


Endings and Beginnings

by Ely_Baby



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background Relationships, Character Death, Community: hp_nextgen_fest, Cousin Incest, Cute Kids, Established Relationship, Estrangement, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, Pregnancy, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ely_Baby/pseuds/Ely_Baby
Summary: Ronald Weasley is dead. Now, Rose and Hugo have to come to terms with the loss of their father and with the fact that they haven't spoken to each other for the past seven years.





	Endings and Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I am sooooo rusty, and I am sooooo sorry for that. And despite that, obviously, the word count has skyrocketed as always with me. I just cannot stop blabbering, I’m afraid. I tried to stay true to the prompt, but I couldn’t find a valid reason for Rose and Hugo to feel some “proper sibling hate”. That was, until Lily came to my rescue. Thank you, Lily! Obviously, Hugo is so protective of her that he would go against his own family to be with her. So, yeah, what I’m trying to say is that the Lugo was a necessity here. There is no other reason for them to be together in this story. Nope. Certainly, it’s not because methinks this pairing is alright… A huge thank you to the Mods for being so supportive and patient with me. Thank you to my beta as well. Whoever you are.

_New beginnings are always disguised as painful endings. ~_ Lao Tzu

***

The sun was already burning bright when Hugo opened his eyes that Sunday morning. Somewhere outside, their neighbour was loading his car; Hugo recognised his voice seeping through the closed window. His two children were laughing and running around their garden, probably excited to finally leave for the holidays, and uncaring of how much their father tried to shush them.

Hugo closed his eyes again; he smiled at the familiar sounds and rolled over on the bed. He stretched his hand towards Lily’s side without much conviction of finding her there. His fingers caressed the soft sheets, still slightly warm, but empty. He smiled sleepily again and rolled over until his face was pressed into her pillow. He inhaled her scent and finally pushed himself up with more energy than he expected himself to have at that time of the morning.

Stretching his arms over his head, he strode to the bathroom. He took the shower that he hadn’t bothered to take the night before, when he had dragged himself home after a strenuous shift at work. He barely towelled off his wet curls and quickly donned a t-shirt that they had gotten at Bondi Beach the month before and a pair of swimming trunks with big, bright coloured flowers.

When he opened the door that led into the landing his nostrils were filled with the mouth-watering smell of homemade pancakes wafting from the kitchen. His smile turned into a grin as he started making his way downstairs and his children’s voices finally reached his ears.

“Hey! That was mine!”

“Yeah, but you’re not fast enough and now it’s mine!”

“But Mummy said that it was mine! Muuum!”

Hugo folded his arms across his chest and leant against the jamb of the door that led into the kitchen, taking in the scene before his eyes.

The big, wooden table was covered in more things than usually constituted your typical breakfast at the Weasley household. Deliciously thick and fluffy pancakes, ice-cream, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate milk, cereals, yogurt, tropical fruits, warm toast, syrup, honey, and chocolate sauce were spread out over every inch of the table.

Two red-headed boys, too small to sit properly and manage to reach the food, were kneeling on the chairs and trying to cover their pancakes with as many toppings as their plates would allow. Alex, his oldest, seemed to have tried everything that his mother had laid out for them if the crumbs on his face were of any indication, and now he was looking satisfied as he ate the pancake that had probably been destined to his little brother. On the other hand, Liam was sulking and looking up at Alex with a frown upon his brow.

Their mother was standing in front of the hobs, making more pancakes with magic and reassuring their littlest that they were coming soon. Her t-shirt was all stretched around her hips, her naked feet were brushing absent-mindedly one on top of the other, her long mane of red hair was tied untidily on top of her head and some strands had escaped the messy bun and were now tickling her neck that she kept scratching.

Alex stretched his freckled arm and dug the spoon enthusiastically into the ice-cream bowl in the middle of the table, bringing a generous scoop straight into his mouth.

Hugo cleared his throat. “Hey, are you two leaving some ice-cream for Mummy and Daddy?”

Alex started. He turned towards his dad and then grinned straight away. “Yes, Daddy!” he said innocently, while his brother threw himself from his chair and ran up to him, giggling happily when Hugo caught him in his arms.

Hugo stepped towards the table with Liam seated on his hip; he peered into the bowl and shook his head. “Not the lemon one, I want chocolate and vanilla,” he snorted. “Have you ever heard of pancakes with lemon ice-cream?”

“No, never,” said Liam wisely. “Never ever.”

“That’s because they don’t exist.” Hugo grinned at him, then he placed him back on his chair when a pancake started floating towards his plate. The little boy looked particularly happy to see it; he raised his plate to catch it, and started covering it with everything he could find at hand’s length.

Hugo stared at the two redheaded boys for a fistful of seconds before turning away from them. He stepped towards Lily and smiled as he slid his hands over her waist and on the swell of her belly. “Pancakes, ice-cream, chocolate chip cookies,” he whispered against her hair. “This one really gives you the best cravings…” He rubbed his thumbs over her stomach and kissed the side of her head, then her temple, then her cheek. “Morning,” he whispered as she turned her head towards him and he kissed her properly.

She tasted of pancakes and chocolate, and she smiled against his lips as he gave her a kiss that their children would have surely interrupted with disgusted sounds hadn’t they been so engrossed in their breakfast.

When she tilted her head back, she smiled up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Morning,” she whispered back. He closed his arms around her and fitted his body against hers, staring as the pancakes cooked slowly in the pan.

She sagged gently against him and leant her forehead on his jaw. Breathing slowly, she murmured, “You’ve got post.”

He groaned. “Not gonna open it until tomorrow,” he assured her. “It’s my first Sunday with my family in two whole months.” He felt the rage boil at the pit of his stomach. “We wouldn’t get post on a Sunday if we were Muggles.”

“No,” she agreed. “But they would call you on one of those mobile phones that Grandpa likes so much.”

Hugo nodded. She was right. Obviously, she was.

“Hugo,” she whispered gravely, placing her hands on top of his on her stomach and squeezing his fingers into hers. “It’s from your mother.”

***

“No. No. No! The only thing that I asked for was no lilies in the arrangements. Not even a single one. And what does this look like to you, Mr Toots?” Rose lifted a white lily in front of the gardener’s face as her nostrils flared dangerously.

Mr Toots’ outraged mouth opened wide as he stared at the flower, but Rose didn’t really care if the man had a radio programme, if he had authored books on the properties of every single magic plant on the planet, and if he was a celebrity, she wouldn’t have allowed even the smallest mistake that day. Not. That. Day.

“It is a lily,” he said curtly. “But obviously, because it’s just _one_ lily that you’ve found amongst the chrysanthemums, it is clear that it escaped my very alert supervision.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Your very alert supervision?” she repeated haughtily. “I’m sorry, but all you have to do is check the flowers, I really don’t think that this job requires _alert supervision_ , and obviously if you can’t even comply with one easy request…”

He looked at her, irritated. “I can comply with every request, Miss,” he grunted. “I have more than half a century of experience as—”

“Yes, well, I am not sure what your other clients requested you to do, but probably it was not as complicated as the flower arrangement for a funeral.”

Mr Toots puffed up his chest like a turkey. “I beg your pardon? I have never been spoken like this in all my life!”

Rose raised her nose and wrinkled it. “Well, if you don’t like the way I talk to you, there’s the door.” She pointed towards it with a freckled finger. “I suggest you go now and probably try to work on knowing the difference between a lily and a chrysanthemum.”

Mr Toots looked at her with eyes bulging. He opened his mouth like a fish and closed it again. Then he quickly and visibly started to turn rather red and finally spluttered something about being utterly offended and stalked away.

Rose pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes slightly before turning towards the two people who were staring at her with a mix of horror and bewilderment.

“He didn’t know anything about flowers,” she said to them, her voice utterly calm.

Scorpius’ mouth opened slightly, but Albus beat him to whatever he wanted to say. “What in the name of Merlin, Rose!” he snapped. “He is the leading expert on flowers in all of Britain! Neville suggested we called him!”

Rose bit the inside of her bottom lip to try to keep herself from showing her nervousness, but her nostrils flared again.

“Rose, darling, you’re still in shock, obviously—”

“She’s not in shock, Scorpius,” growled Albus. “That’s how she always behaves.”

Rose glared at him. “I said no lilies!” she hissed. “And amongst all the flowers on this earth which one did he have to accidentally put in the arrangement?”

“It was one bloody flower,” snapped Albus, “you found it, he said he was sorry, you couldn’t have just let it go, could you?”

“Do you want me to fire you, too?” she asked him coldly.

Albus looked at her as if she was crazy. “I’m not working here! I’m just helping you and Aunt Hermione to get everything ready for the funeral!” He looked at Scorpius, but Scorpius seemed to either not know what to say or not want to say anything at all. Albus turned to look at Rose and shook his head. “It’s her uncle, too, by the way,” he spat. “You think she’s not going to come to the funeral?”

Rose felt her back stiffen, she folded her arms across her chest and raised her chin. “They don’t even know he’s dead,” she replied frostily.

Albus looked at her in disbelief, then he turned to look at Scorpius again, but now Scorpius was looking back at him and shaking his head imperceptibly as if to beg him to stop talking.

“What?” asked Rose, voice low and dangerous.

“Never mind,” said Albus. He snorted out a laughter and shook his head. “I’m taking a break, okay? But you keep searching the vases for more lilies, Rose. Merlin forbid that another one went past him!” He laughed and shook his head again and finally walked out of the hall of the Funeral Parlour in Ottery St Catchpole; the one she and her mother had chosen, so that her father would be close to Uncle Fred and all his relatives.

Rose’s attention reverted on her fiancé. “Tell me now or I swear to Merlin you’ll sleep in the garden for the upcoming two years.”

Scorpius swallowed noisily. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I promised.”

“You promised who?”

“I can’t tell you that.” His grey eyes were so wide, Rose could see all the shades of his irises.

“Scorpius, I swear,” she hissed, pushing her hand in her pocket and closing her fingers around her wand.

He swallowed again. “Rose, let’s not dwell on what Albus was—”

“Tell me now!”

***

Alex and Liam were flying their toy broomsticks in the garden, something that they would not normally be allowed to do without direct supervision, but Lily had enchanted them to fly only up to twenty inches from the ground, and now they were screaming happily and throwing a beach ball without enough force to send it over the fence.

Hugo was sitting on the sofa: his feet on the floor, his eyes trained on the letter in his lap, his arm tight around Lily’s shaking shoulders. She had her head on his chest and her own hand grappled on his t-shirt. She had been crying ever since he had opened the letter and let her read it. He hadn’t been able to shed a tear, but she had cried until she had felt lightheaded and had to sit down.

Hugo hadn’t found the will to joke that it was those damn hormones. He knew it wasn’t that this time.

He swallowed and brought his lips to her forehead. He kissed her smooth skin and leant his head over hers.

“I can’t believe it,” she sobbed quietly. “I can’t… I can’t believe it.”

He nodded. “I know. Me neither.”

She sobbed a couple more times and blew her nose while she hiccupped.

Hugo looked out of the big window and onto the garden. The unforgiving sun of Australia would soon reach their backyard and they would have to call Alex and Liam inside. They would then have to find another way to distract them while Hugo and Lily came to terms with the piece of news they had received from London.

“I’ll have to go,” he said in a breath. “I’ll have to go back, for… for the funeral. I guess.”

Lily swallowed and nodded. “Of course,” she sobbed. “Of course, we’ll go.”

Hugo furrowed his brow slightly. “No, I’ll go,” he said gently. “You stay here and rest and look after the kids.”

He could tell that she did not agree with his suggestion even before she pushed herself up and away from him, or even before she started talking.

“We will all go,” she said forcefully, looking at him with eyes huge behind those tears and gesturing from him to her to the kids. “I am _obviously_ coming.”

Hugo shook his head. “No, you’re not,” he said firmly. “You can’t come, not in your predicament.” He looked down at her belly and then up again at her.

She looked at him as if he had just slapped her, and not simply stated the truth. “I am coming and that’s final, Hugo.”

“Lily, you can’t bloody come all the way to England while you’re pregnant,” he growled. “Nobody in their right mind will ever issue you a Portkey.”

She pressed her lips in a severe thin line. “Then I’ll take a plane,” she said matter-of-factly.

He snorted. “You’re eight months along,” he reminded her. “They won’t let you board a plane in your condition, especially not a twenty-four-hour trip to the other side of the world.”

“I’ll Confound the crew,” she said stubbornly, pushing her hands on the sofa to get up and away from him, but apparently being unable to push herself up.

“You’ll have to Confound the whole bloody airport,” he said matter-of-factly as he stood up and helped to her feet. “Because you won’t go past the check-in point.”

“I’ll Disillusion myself,” she replied, starting to walk towards the stairs and their bedroom. “I’ll find an Invisibility Cloak and buy it. I’ll go to the Ministry and steal a Thestral. I’ll ask Uncle Charlie to send me a dragon and I’ll ride it to Ottery St Catchpole.”

“You are out of your mind, you know that, right?” he said darkly, following her upstairs. “You’re not coming. End of story.” He stared at her as she stepped into their room and waved her wand. Her suitcase flew out from under their bed and started to fill itself with all her clothes. “Stop it! Stop it, Lily! You’re not coming. I won’t let you.” He pulled the wand out of her hand without much effort and brought the charm to an abrupt end, her clothes falling in heaps on the floor.

She turned to look at him, eyes flashing dangerously. “Beg your pardon?”

“I won’t let you put you and our child into danger,” he stated curtly.

She looked at him, surprised. “I’m sorry. Are you trying to say that I would put our child into danger?” she asked coldly. “That I’m a bad mother?”

“I didn’t say that,” he backpedalled straight away. “You know I didn’t say that.”

“Then what are you saying?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. “Because Merlin forbid it sounded first as if you would forbid me to do something and then as if you were insulting me.”

Hugo felt his cheeks heat up with shame and anger. He shook his head to try to calm himself down before he spoke again. “He was my father,” he growled. “You have no obligation towards him.”

“He was my uncle, too,” she said tersely. “And I am not missing his funeral.”

He took a deep breath and looked back at her. “Lily—”

“You take Alex with you and get a Portkey tonight,” she said calmly, “and I’ll get on the first plane to London with Liam. I will Disillusion my belly and they’ll let me board with no problem; if not, I will Confound them.”

He opened his mouth to try to reply something, but he could already feel that he had lost inexorably against her. He decided to try his last hope. “Lily, you do remember why we’re living on the other side of the world from them, don’t you?” he whispered. “You do remember what he told us. What he said about you.”

She bit her bottom lip, seemingly vacillating in her resoluteness for a spare second. Hugo felt a gust of relief washing over him, but it was short-lived. Suddenly, she stretched her hand to claim her wand back. “I do,” she replied calmly. “And I think it’s about time we do something about it.”

***

Rose stepped out of the fireplace in her parents’ – her mother’s, now – living room and stopped dead at the scene before her eyes. Albus was kneeling on the carpet between the sofa and the coffee table; her mother was seated on the edge of the sofa, her back slightly curved as she and her nephew were pouring over a pile of photographs.

Her mother looked up and smiled at Rose as she stepped towards them. “Hello, my darling,” she said softly. Ever since her father had died, her mother had spoken softly, especially when she was at home, as if she was trying to be respectful of her father’s soul still lingering about.

Rose didn’t reply to the greeting, instead she folded her arms across her chest and hardened her stare. “Mother,” she started calmly but coldly, “how could you tarnish our relationship with such treason?”

“Here we go,” muttered Albus under his breath while he didn’t even raise his eyes from the photographs. He picked one up; in it there were Rose’s parents and Albus’ on his parents’ wedding day. They all looked rather happy and young.

Her mother looked at her for a few seconds, her expression changing from loving to surprised to resigned. She grabbed a cup of tea that was levitating in mid-air near her knees and sipped thoughtfully before asking, “What did you do to poor Scorpius to make him confess?”  

“Nothing,” she replied, wrinkling her nose. “He told me because he loves me and can’t stand when people are mean to me.”

“Ten Galleons she used the Bat-Bogey Hex,” said Albus, putting the photograph back down.

“I didn’t have to!” she growled at him.

“Because you scared him out of his wits and he confessed before you even had to fire the spell,” he said matter-of-factly.

She hated when Albus was right. Rose’s eyes became two slits, but it was altogether unsatisfying when you were glaring at someone and that someone didn’t even bother to look back at you. She turned to look at her mother, who had listened to their exchange without uttering a word.

“Well,” said Rose sourly. “How could you, Mother?”

Her mother looked at her severely. “Rose, he was his father, too.”

“Not for the past seven years, he wasn’t,” she pointed out dryly. “They left, never invited us to their wedding, never even told us that they were having a gazillion children, not even a letter for Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night—”

“Who sends letters for Guy Fawkes Night?” asked Albus, rolling his eyes.

“That’s not the point,” snapped Rose, “and I do.”

“Yes, but you’re crazy, Rose,” he said, looking up and giving her a sarcastic grin.

She felt her body temperature actually changing as the rage boiled at the pit of her stomach and raised up to her chest and her head. She closed her fingers spasmodically around her wand and yanked it from her pocket.

“Rose,” said her mother calmly as Rose raised her wand in front of her. “Put that away, there’s no need to have an uncivilised conversation here.” She turned towards Albus and cocked an eyebrow. “Albus, please, don’t comment on everything she says.”

Albus mumbled an agreement and hunched his back to focus on the photographs once more.

“Rose,” said her mother again. “I wrote to Hugo because his father died, he has the right to know.”

Rose lowered her wand and sulked slightly. “I’m sure he’s not going to come,” she muttered. “He’s too full of himself, he won’t come.”

“I wonder who he reminds me of…” muttered Albus.

Rose shot him a glare.

“Albus,” sighed her mother before turning to Rose. “He’s arriving tomorrow late morning. They booked a series of Portkeys, but are stopping here and there to let the kids get accustomed to the rough travel.”

Rose’s breath caught in her throat at the news. Tomorrow morning was so soon. She wasn’t ready to see them in less than twelve hours. She didn’t want to see them. Hell, she didn’t want to see them in twelve hours nor in twelve years. They had left, they had broken up all bridges with them, they didn’t deserve to be part of their family, especially not in such a delicate moment.

“Why that early?” she asked haughtily. “The funeral isn’t until next Monday. That’s a whole four days too early.”

“Rose, he obviously wants to be here with his family,” said her mother kindly. Her tired face broke into a smile. “It’ll be so nice to see them again and finally meet their children.”

“I don’t like children,” sniffed Rose. She was lying, obviously, she loved Victoire and Teddy’s little troublemaker and Roxanne’s little princess, she just knew she wouldn’t have liked their children.

“You don’t like any human being,” muttered Albus.

Rose glared at him, but almost immediately turned to look at her mother, suddenly rather terrified. “Oh my God,” she muttered. “Please, please, please, don’t tell them that I’m seeing a Mind Healer. Please, Mother, I don’t want them to think that I’ve got… that I’ve got some problem!”

“Too late for that,” sing-songed Albus.

Her mother took a deep breath. “Rose, my love, there’s nothing wrong with being in therapy, you know? Nothing to be ashamed of. And you’ve done such progress since you’ve started, I’m so proud of you.”

“Wow,” said Albus, turning to look at his aunt. “Aunt Hermione, I’ve never seen anybody lying and keeping their cool like that. You can really tell that you’re a politician. I’m well impressed.”

Her mother closed her eyes. “Albus,” she sighed. “I’m begging you, stop talking.”

“He can’t stop talking, Mother,” said Rose frostily. “When one has no brain, they can’t decide what to do with what they say. They just say some words out loud and hope that they fit with the conversation around them.”

Albus turned to glare at her; he opened his mouth to retort something, but her mother interrupted him. “Rose, do you want to help us set apart some pictures of your father for the ceremony? Uncle Harry wanted to say a few words, and you mentioned that you did, too.”

Rose looked down at the pictures and her heart skipped a beat. His father was in each and every single one of them – Albus and her mother must have chosen them carefully – and Rose didn’t know if she could trust herself to sit there with them without crying.

“I… I don’t—”

“Oh, I like this one,” said Albus suddenly, picking up one. “I think we should blow this one up and put it near the flower arrangements.” He turned towards her mother and showed it to her. “Isn’t it a very good picture of Uncle Ron?”

Her mother closed her eyes and then brought her hands to her face. “Albus, please,” she said tiringly.

Rose furrowed her brow, but before she could ask to see the picture, Albus had already turned it towards her and pushed it under her nose. “Isn’t it a great picture, Rose?”

She furrowed her brow as she stared at her father’s face at the beach: he was smiling and looking happy. He was also sandwiched between his son and his niece, still underage in that picture, they here hugging the hell out of him and he looked like he couldn’t get enough of it.

Rose straightened her back and glared down at Albus.

“I hope next time you brew the Erumpent Potion, it explodes up your nose,” she hissed before turning away and disappearing out of the door.

***

Hugo inspected his suitcase and furrowed his brow in concentration. Jumpers, boots, jackets, heavy socks, all things that he didn’t even remember he owned, luckily Lily did apparently. He hadn’t needed a jacket in such a long time in Cairns, it was truly summer all year round with temperatures going from nice and warm in winter to unbearably hot in summer. He wore shorts and thongs—flip flops! He had to remember to call them flip flops back in England—all year long, even at work. He wasn’t looking forward to having to dress up warmly at all.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and he started to panic irrationally. He bolted his suitcase close and hurried into the boys’ room. He opened Alex’s little suitcase, which was covered in colourful dinosaurs, and took a deep breath of relief. Apparently, his son had all sorts of warm clothes, too, and apparently Lily knew where to find them.

He closed that suitcase, too, and made both valises levitate down the stairs. He could hear Lily talking in hushed tones, probably giving their son the latest recommendations for the trip. He knew she was suffering for having to part with Alex for almost two days, and he knew that Alex would have suffered, too. He hoped that this new and exciting experience would keep him busy and distracted enough, though.

He left the suitcases in front of the door and walked into the living room. Lily was seated on the edge of the sofa, half-crouched near their oldest son. She was closing his jacket and talking to him seriously and quietly, too quietly for Hugo to understand. Alex was nodding at his mother’s every word, eyes huge and wondering as he listened to her. Liam was seated next to Lily on the sofa, playing with a figurine of the Seeker of the Woollongong Warriors and half-listening to her, too.

When Lily seemingly finished her recommendations, she scooped him up, hugged him to her chest and showered him with kisses.

Hugo couldn’t help smiling at the scene, and when Alex climbed down from her lap only to lower his face to her mother’s belly and planting a kiss there, too, he knew his heart had melted in his chest.

Alex also threw himself at his little brother, he grabbed his freckled cheeks and planted a kiss on one of them. Liam seemed torn between looking disgusted and sad. Sadness seemed to get the better of him, though, because he pushed away the toy and grabbed his brother to give him a kiss back.

Hugo walked to them. “All ready?” he asked gently.

Alex nodded solemnly.

“Daddy! Mummy and I are going to take a plane!” exclaimed Liam. He climbed up the back of the sofa and Hugo caught him before he could throw himself at him. “A plane to London! Mummy said that it’s a looooooooooooong way.”

“It’s very long,” said Hugo seriously, “and you have to look after Mummy, okay? Be a good boy and listen to her. Especially when you’re in the airport.”

The boy nodded solemnly. They had told the children that they were going on a trip back to the place where their parents had grown up, because something sad had happened. Their daddy’s daddy had died all of a sudden, and they had to go and see their family. The boys had picked up how grave the situation was from the tone of their voices and from the way their mummy sniffled every few words. All in all, they had been remarkably well behaved since their parents had talked to them, and they had spent the afternoon drawing things to show the grandparents that they had never seen before, and playing quietly with their toys, while their parents packed, booked Portkeys and plane tickets, and Floo Called back home. Hugo was particularly proud of them.

Lily pushed herself up from the sofa and went to Hugo as he placed Liam back on the floor.

“Be careful with the Portkeys,” she said quietly as she came to stand in front of him. “I’ve put some quick change of clothes on top of the suitcases in case Alex is sick.”

Hugo nodded. “He got one, remember? When we went to New Zealand two years ago. He wasn’t that bad.”

“I know, but this one is a long way,” she reminded him. “It would upset anybody.”

“You’re right,” he said matter-of-factly. “You’re always right. How am I supposed to do without you for two whole days?”

She smiled as she closed the distance between the two of them and let her belly rest against his stomach. His hands circled her waist and he pulled her even tighter against him. She raised her face until his lips were a breath away from him.

“You didn’t want me to come until this morning,” she reminded him.

“I’m an idiot,” he said quietly, “I’ve never stated the contrary.”

Her smile deepened as she stood on tiptoes and finally kissed him. It was a proper snog that usually would have been interrupted by their sons pushing him away and claiming ownership of their mother with tickles and kisses of their own, and it would end up with Lily laughing on the sofa and their children trying to hug her to death.

This time, though, the children didn’t even move nor breathe a word. They waited patiently as their parents said a proper goodbye and whispered comforting words to each other between kisses.

When they finally separated, Alex threw himself at his mother and Liam at his father, saying goodbye one last time before they all moved to the garden, where the Portkey that would bring Hugo and Alex to Hong Kong, where the second one was, had just been delivered.

***

“I can’t believe you would go,” said Rose, her arms tightly knotted under breasts. “First my mother, then you. Someone else want to backstab me since my father’s death?”

Scorpius looked up from his porridge with eyes filled with sheepish guiltiness. “You should come, too, Rose,” he said gently. “I’m sure your brother and your sister-in-law would—”

“My brother and my cousin,” she reminded him frostily.

Scorpius swallowed and tried to smile at her. “Yes, them,” he said weakly. “I’m sure they would love to see you, too.”

Rose leant back against the chair. “And to think that you were there while Hugo screamed all those nasty things at my father and me,” she hissed. “It almost feels like you don’t remember.”

“Rose, probably _you_ don’t remember that you and your father were not exactly—”

“Yes?” she hissed, eyes flashing. “We were not exactly _what_?”

Scorpius’ mouth closed, then he opened it again, then closed it once more. “No… I… I really don’t remember, you’re right,” he mumbled, then he smiled weakly. “But… but they are bringing their children! Aren’t you curious to see them? Our nephews.”

“We’re not married yet Scorpius,” she reminded him calmly. “That’s next year.”

“Your nephews,” he corrected softly.

Rose looked away from him. For a while, she had wondered how her brother’s children would be like, but the more she had thought about them the more she had convinced herself that they would be two troublemakers covered in freckles. Not very different from their own parents. Actually, all she could see when she imagined them were two copycats of Hugo at different ages.

“I’m not curious,” she replied curtly. “Why? Are you?” She looked at him, studying his face attentively to discover every flick of emotion.

He blushed slightly at her inquisitive tone. “Well… yes… A bit, you know…” he said casually. “James and Albus can’t shut up about them. They’ve bought them a pile of presents… Polly, too… Even though she’s never even met Hugo and Lily.”

“Well, what lucky kids to have all these loving uncles and aunt,” muttered Rose. “And I’m glad all these people that should be mourning my father can only think about celebrating the prodigal son coming home.” She flared her nostrils. “Shall I book the Weird Sisters, too? Should we have a party instead of a funeral wake?”

“Rose, you know that everybody is distraught,” said Scorpius meekly. “Hugo and Lily coming home is just that tiny silver lining for them…”

Rose stood from the breakfast table and from her untouched breakfast. “Well, lucky them,” she hissed. “I will be working on the seating arrangement and my discourse while you all have fun with those kids.”

“Rose…”

But she didn’t let him change her mind. She walked out of the kitchen and disappeared into their bedroom.

***

Hugo hugged Alex to his chest as his son leant his weary head on his shoulder. The boy was tired and sick, the long-distance Portkeys had really taken a toll on him; Lily had been right to fret, she knew their son like the back of her hand.

“Hey, you okay, little man?” he whispered as he rubbed soothing circles on his back.

Alex nodded silently, he brought his hands on the back of his father’s neck and clasped them tightly, pushing himself up a bit to be even closer to him.

“One last effort, okay?” he said quietly. “Then we’re there.”

Alex let out a groan before pushing his nose into his father’s jacket.

“I know, I know,” Hugo reassured him, “but we can’t stay in Germany. Daddy doesn’t understand anything when they speak, and they don’t understand Daddy.”

He bent a bit and picked up their baggage, then took a step towards the tyre-shaped Portkey. “Hang on to Daddy really well, okay Alex?”

The boy nodded again, almost suffocating him in his tight embrace.

Hugo took a deep breath. He leant forward and used the hand that wasn’t supporting his son anymore to touch the Portkey. There was the pull behind their navel, that feeling of being yanked forward, and of being squished in all directions. Alex whined in his ear as he grasped Hugo with all his forces. Then, as fast as it had started, it finished, and they were slammed against the wet ground.

Hugo let go of their suitcases and embraced his son’s body to shield him from the fall. He waited for Alex to throw up like he had done the first two times, but he was still as a statue as they both tried to catch their breath.

“Hey, mate,” he whispered, hugging him tightly. “It’s alright, we’re here.”

Alex still didn’t reply.

“Well, that was one hell of a landing!”

“Best one I’ve seen with two suitcases and a child.”

Hugo pushed one hand on the ground to stand up. He hoisted Alex a bit higher on his hip and looked around himself with eyes wide and bulging. His family. His _whole_ family was there. Everybody was either smiling or looking rather expectantly at him.

Hugo looked back at them and blinked a couple of times. He had no idea what to say; in fact, even “hi” seemed like a stupid thing to say at that moment.

He opened his mouth, but before he could blurt out some non-consequential rubbish, everybody was throwing themselves on them.

“Hugo!”

“Oh my God, which one is this one? He’s precious.”

“How can you be that tanned? You look like a surfer!”

“Merlin! We’ve missed you, Mate!”

He was patted on every inch of his back and arms. His uncles took turns in ruffling up his curls. Dominique and Roxanne pushed each other away from in front of Alex as they tried to check if the kid was okay while curiously look at his face.

Hugo, carried away by all that merriment, started grinning like an idiot and replying and asking questions back to them. “It’s hot in Australia, Fred, lots of sun. Oh God, Albus, is that really your hair? What happened to it? Molly that tattoo is ginormous! What is it? Oh, it’s Alex, our oldest. He’s a bit unsettled by the Portkeys. You’re James’ fiancée? Since when?” He tried to pat back some of them, to mess up their hair, too, or hug and kiss the girls, but it was hard with Alex still clinging to his neck.

And then, suddenly, he saw her, and his heart skipped a beat.

She was walking towards them, clad in a long, black Wizarding robe. Her curly hair was pulled up primly and her face was veiled with an aura of sadness.

His cousins and other relatives stopped their boisterous greetings and let her approach Hugo, stepping back from them reverently.

She stopped right in front of him. She looked up, and her red lips stretched into a calm smile that Hugo had missed dearly in those seven years.

“Hi, Mum,” he croaked out unsurely.

His mother smiled tenderly at him. “Hello, my love,” she whispered. She stepped even closer to him and finally stretched her arms and hugged him and Alex tightly.

Hugo hunched his back to plant a kiss on her temple, then closed his eyes and leant his head on top of hers, inhaling deeply her mother’s scent, so familiar and so charged with memories and all sorts of feelings.

“I missed you,” whispered his mother.

“I missed you, too,” he said, trying hard not to let the emotions overwhelm him or his voice.

They stayed like that for what seemed like ages; the people that had showed their love in such a noisy way until a moment before were now observing them in respectful silence.

Hugo appreciated that, because he could have stayed like that for ever, thrown back to when he was a child. He had missed feeling his mother’s arms around him.

They were brought back to reality only when Alex wriggled slightly against his side. He turned his head a bit to peer down at his grandma and Hugo raised his head and looked at his child as he observed the scene.

“Hey, Mate,” said Hugo cheerfully, as he released his mother and hugged Alex again. “Hey, you okay?”

Alex nodded quietly, but his eyes were still trained on his grandmother.

Hugo smiled warmly. “Hey, this is your grandma,” he said lowering the child a bit so that he was eye-level with her. “This is Daddy’s mummy, you know? It’s Grandma Hermione.”

Alex studied her quietly for a moment then he said, “Hi,” in a small, quiet voice that was rather atypical of him.

A swooning sound emerged from the crowd around them and suddenly everybody was around them again, introducing themselves to the child, giving him little flicks on the nose, tickling his neck.

And then, suddenly, two other people who looked like they had been waiting for something to happen, finally approached them. “Hi, Hugo,” said Aunt Ginny as everybody else was fussing over the new addition to the family. “Hi. My God, hi!” She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. “God, it’s so good to see you.”

“Hey, Mate,” said Uncle Harry, patting his shoulder and smiling warmly at him. “It’s so nice that you’re here.”

“It’s so nice to be here,” he admitted. “Hi, guys. Hey, Alex, these are your other grandparents. Grandpa Harry and Grandma Ginny, they are Mummy’s daddy and mummy.”

“Hi,” piped up Alex, much less shy than a few seconds before already.

Aunt Ginny’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Alex. “Oh, he’s so… he looks so much like you! He’s you when you were that age. Oh, God!”

Hugo grinned. “He’s got Lily’s nose, luckily,” he chuckled.

Uncle Harry laughed, while Aunt Ginny stretched her arms and asked him if he wanted to go with Grandma and have some chocolate biscuits and ice-cream. She didn’t have to ask twice.

“Hey, Hugo,” said James, patting his back as Hugo gave Alex to Aunt Ginny.

He turned to look at James.

“Where’s… where’s Lily?” he asked, his voice a bit panicky. “She’s coming, isn’t she?” He looked at the place where Hugo had landed. “She is coming, right?” he rasped out.

James’ discomfort at the thought that he might not get to see his little sister made Hugo’s chest tighten.

He placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “She’s coming,” he assured him. “She’s coming by plane with Liam, our youngest. She’s landing tomorrow night at Heathrow.”

“By plane?” asked Albus. “Why? Why didn’t she come with you?”

“Is your other child too young to travel by Portkey?” asked Lucy.

“How old is he?” asked Fred.

“No, no, it’s not that,” said Hugo. “She… she couldn’t.”

The faces around them looked rather thoughtful as they tried to divine why Lily couldn’t get a Portkey. The first to get there was Scorpius, his grey eyes became almost comically huge as he exclaimed, “Oh Merlin! She’s pregnant?”

“Yeah,” he said with a not so subtle grin as everybody looked at him.

He was patted again and again, his hair was ruffled even more, he was hugged and kissed and congratulated. James tackled him and shouted a very cheerful, “You can’t keep your hands off my sister, can you?”

They all laughed, again and again. And now that Alex was fussed over by his newfound grandparents and an army of other relatives, his cousins finally tackled Hugo to the ground and started to fight with him like he hadn’t in years.

He suddenly felt very happy to be home.

***

Rose pocketed her wand, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and inspected the room for the umpteenth time. There were twenty-five dozen rows of plush chairs, all lined out neatly one next to the other, with enough space on the front to let people stretch their legs and enough space on the side not to let elbows clash into one another.

Albus had laughed when she had prepared a plan, drawn a map of the space, and created a magically animated 3D model of the chairs. Rose had hexed his hair green and she was happy to report that he still had to find the counter-spell. Either that, or he really liked that colour. Stupid Slytherin men.

There was still something that didn’t work too well, though. The first row was slightly more distanced from the others, the row where she, her mother, her uncles, and probably – on the other extremity of the row from her – her brother would be sitting. But that 30 inches gap felt like too wide a distance from the other rows. She didn’t want to detach them from the others too much; she could see her other cousins wouldn’t have appreciated that, and the last thing she wanted was people to fight at her father’s funeral. She wanted them all to weep and sob throughout the service. Especially while she was delivering her heart-breaking speech.

She pursed her lips and flicked her wand again. The front row moved back of exactly 2.5 inches with some loud scratches on the floor and, while they did, a warm hand closed on Rose’s shoulder and squeezed it mightily.

She jumped, literally jumped, screamed, turned, punched her assaulter in the throat and kneed him in the groin, all in less than five seconds. And to think that Albus kept repeating that those self-defence classes she was taking at the Ministry were useless when one had a wand.

Her assaulter collapsed on the floor and curled up like a ball; he let out a pitiful wail, bringing his hands to his groin. His blond hair falling in his eyes as they watered with tears.

“Oh my God!” cried Rose, kneeling next to him. “Louis! Why would you do that?”

He looked at her as if she was crazy. “Why would I do what?” he asked back breathlessly. “You just kneed me in the balls.” He rocked back and forth on the floor, groaning and moaning. “My children…” he wailed.

“You don’t have any.”

“And I never will now,” he moaned. “Why would _you_ do that?”

“You assaulted me!” she protested.

“I just touched your shoulder!” he snapped. “I called you three times, but you were on another planet!” He rocked back and forth another time. “And I wish you had stayed there now,” he added in a growl.

Rose rolled her eyes, then she grabbed his chin and made him look up at her. “You scared me out of my wits,” she muttered. She surveyed the bruise she had left there and murmured a Healing Charm, before doing the same with his groin.

“Thanks,” he muttered, still glaring.

She helped him to his feet, and he took a step back, fixing his trousers and grunting something that Rose didn’t quite catch about his family jewels.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” she asked curtly. “Aren’t you welcoming home the happy couple with everybody else?”

Louis pursed his lips and cocked an eyebrow at her words. “We did already,” he said calmly. “You were the only one missing.”

Rose looked away from him. “I was preparing the seating arrangement,” she huffed out. “Since I feel like I’m the only one who cares about the funeral in this family, therefore I am bound to be the only one who does things here.”

Louis looked around the room before staring back at her. “Rose, they are just chairs,” he pointed out. “You just had to wave your wand and place them into rows.”

“They are not just—”

He raised a hand in front of her face to make her stop talking. “Spare me,” he said curtly. “We all know why you weren’t there, and all I have to say is that you missed meeting the cutest six-year-old ever. I mean, he is a redheaded, freckled, little thing, and I’ve seen lots of those, but he’s still so adorable, I think the girls were swooning to death over him.”

She rolled her eyes. “Great,” she muttered. “Is that all you came to tell me? That I missed meeting a child?”

“No,” he replied calmly. “I came to tell you that we, cousins, are all heading to the Leaky Cauldron, to have lunch, and guess what? You’re invited, too.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “And you drew lots for who had to come and tell me, and you were the unlucky one, right?” she deadpanned.

Louis shook his head. “No, you silly thing,” he said calmly. “The unlucky one was Albus, but we all decided that it wouldn’t have been wise for him to be the one who came here and gently asked you to join us.”

“Yes, very wise,” she muttered. “I’m sorry, but I’m busy.”

“Rose…”

“I really am, Louis,” she cut him off. “I have to prepare the flowers, since Tilden Toots decided that he didn’t want to work for us anymore, the seating arrangement, my speech, choose the pictures, my father’s outfit, the refreshments for—”

“Rose, you don’t have to do everything by yourself, you know that, right?” he said kindly. “We’re all here to help.”

Rose’s nostrils flared. “I don’t see anybody helping at all, though,” she hissed. “You’re all just too preoccupied to have fun and eat and talk to my brother. That’s all. And I think your cheerfulness is in very bad taste indeed.”

Louis stared at her as she pocketed her wand and finally turned on her heels.

“Your father would have been happy to know that he’s here,” he called after her. “You know that, right? He would have been happy to meet his grandchildren and see the two of them again.”

Rose gritted her teeth; she didn’t turn nor gave him the satisfaction to let him know that she had heard him and that his words had cut through her already broken heart.  

***

Hugo bit down hard on his bottom lip as he stared at the long table where all his cousins and their better halves were seated and chatting animatedly. They had ordered the whole menu and more, an inordinate number of pints of Butterbeers, and nibbles to share amongst themselves.

Everybody kept asking him questions. What was it like to have 30 degrees on Christmas Day? Did they miss the snow? Were the Aurors in Australia like the Aurors in Britain? Was the Wizarding community in Cairns as big as the one in Sydney? Why didn’t they live in Sydney? Was he happy that Lily was finally expecting a girl? Was Lily happy? When was her flight landing again? Could they all go and welcome her? Was their second child as cute as the first one? Did they have a spare room if one of them wanted to go and visit them?

He replied to all their questions and tried to ask some of his own. He came to know that Albus’ hair was not normally green, but that his sister had turned it that colour the other day. Albus pretended to like it when in reality he hadn’t found a way to counter the spell, yet. James had just asked Polly to marry him. Hugo had seen the girl at Hogwarts, she should have been in Rose’s and Albus’ year, he thought, but he didn’t remember ever seeing her with James. Apparently, they fell in love two years prior, when he saved her while he was on an Auror mission. They had been inseparable ever since.  

“You’re coming to the wedding, aren’t you?” said James keenly. “We’ve got the Save the Date cards ready to be sent out. You have to come to the wedding.”

Hugo smiled at him, he opened his mouth to tell him that he would definitely talk to Lily about it, when Scorpius butted in. “And to mine!” he exclaimed hopefully. “You cannot miss it. It’s out of the question, okay?”

Hugo jerked his head to look at his happy face. “You… you’re getting married?” he asked unsurely. “To… to my…”

Albus burst into laughter next to his best friend. He patted Scorpius’ back and looked at Hugo. “Scorpius channelled someone’s inner Gryffindor and asked Rose to marry him!” he filled him in. “They’re getting married next year.” He patted his back again. “Condolences, my good friend.”

Scorpius pushed Albus’ hand back, jokingly. “Shut up, Albus,” he sighed. “We’re very happy.”

“Scorpius,” said James quietly. “She made you sleep on the floor in the living room for two weeks when you misplaced the cutlery in the kitchen.”

Scorpius blushed. “We have… we have carpet, it’s not that bad…”

“What?” asked Hugo. “Couldn’t you sleep on the sofa?”

“She Banished it,” sighed Dominque. “You know how she’s like…” She smiled apologetically, but lowered her eyes on her fish and chips and started to eat it in earnest.

“Yeah,” grumbled Hugo, poking his steak and kidney pie with a fork. “I know.”

“She’s not that bad,” said Scorpius cheerfully. “She’s got much better lately. We even went away for two days and she never hexed anybody for a whole 48 hours.”

“Amazing,” muttered Albus sarcastically.

Hugo took a deep breath. He was dreading the moment he’d have to meet Rose. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to talk to her, he didn’t want to see her, he didn’t want Lily to have to talk to her or see her. He suddenly regretted not having put his foot down with her and told her to stay home.

But it was her uncle’s funeral. She had been irremovable.

Her uncle.

His father.

His father’s funeral.

Hugo still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He hadn’t shed a single tear, yet, and he felt like he would never be able to do that, either. It felt a bit like a dream. Probably the fact that they hadn’t talked in seven years made it all feel like it hadn’t happened. Like it wasn’t really his father the one who had died; as if he was looking at his life like it was someone else’s right now. Someone who was not him.

Everybody looked so happy to see him as well, they hadn’t brought up his father’s death at any point of the conversation, they hadn’t mentioned why he was there, they hadn’t said a word about it. He was sure that they were all just putting up a brave face, as if he needed it not to be crushed by the weight of what had just happened.

He didn’t need it. He couldn’t stress that enough, and he couldn’t say that to anybody, either.

“Roxy,” he said suddenly, loud enough to be heard over the insistent chatting.

Roxanne smiled at him from over her Butterbeer and waited for him to continue.

“How did it happen?” he asked calmly.

The chatting around the table faded out quickly, and suddenly it felt as if everybody was holding their breath and waiting for Roxanne to find the right words to tell him. Aunt Angelina had only mentioned that there had an explosion in the joke shop, that the only other person in the building was Roxanne at that time, and that his father’s body had been found under tall shelf, rushed to St Mungo’s and declared dead upon his arrival.

Roxanne looked at him with her blue eyes gawping. She seemed to silently ask him not to do that, but he had to know. He had to try to feel something.

She swallowed, her throat visibly moving up and down. Then she wetted her lips and took a deep breath. “It was well past closing time,” she began quietly. “My Mum and Dad had done the early shift that day, while Uncle Ron and I had to close down the shop.” She fidgeted with her napkin on the table. “Uncle Ron knew how much I hate to close the shop. You always have to stay overtime, never know when you’re going to finish to clean up, count the money, stock up for the next morning.” She sighed. “Evenings turn into nights there.”

There were some sympathetic murmurs of agreement and Victoire smiled gently at her.

“And that day…” She sighed and shook her head. “We’d been crazy busy. You remember how it’s like before Hogwarts starts again, right? Every student feels the urge to stock up on Puking Pastilles and love potions, as if they forget that we have a branch in Hogsmeade.”

“They don’t,” chuckled Fred. “I swear I sell out the first Hogsmeade weekend.”

Dominique smiled and nodded. James muttered an agreement. Scorpius looked particularly convinced.

“Yeah,” murmured Roxanne. “So, well… We’ve had the shop packed all day through. I was knackered… And… I didn’t even notice, because I was so bloody tired, and I swear that I would have said something if I did notice it, but… but I didn’t…” She sniffled softly and blew her nose in her napkin.

“Oh no, Roxy,” said Molly, hugging her tightly. “We know.”

Louis shook his head and looked at her with pity. Dominique caressed her hair from over Molly’s arm.

Hugo bit his bottom lip. He didn’t want to ask her to keep going – it felt rather heartless now – but she hadn’t shed any light at all on his father’s death. He stared at her, hoping that she would regain her composure and keep going.

“Someone had knocked over a shelf,” said James at his right, speaking softly not to upset the girls further. “The one with the potions. We don’t know when that had happened, but right before closing time, maybe, when everybody was pushing to pay.”

“Your father told Roxy she could go, and he would close the shop,” continued Teddy. “We don’t know if he knew about the mess and how dangerous it was. But when he tried to clean it up by himself…”

“The potions had mixed up,” finished Albus for him. “You can’t put the Laughing Potion and Belch Powder one next to the other. You can’t, you can’t, you can’t.” He shook his head vehemently to stress the gravity of that statement. “One has Alihotsy and the other has Ammoniacum, and when you mix those two…” His voice trailed away, but everybody seemed to know what he was referring to.

“We didn’t know,” sobbed Roxanne over Molly’s arm. “Dad had always stored them like that… we’ve never… we’ve never… we didn’t…”  

“I know,” murmured Albus. “I know.”

“It’s nobody’s fault, Roxy,” said Teddy gently.

“Yeah,” murmured Victoire. “It was an accident.”

Hugo lowered his eyes on his food. It was cold and didn’t look quite as good as it had done before. He didn’t quite feel like eating it either right now. His stomach was in knots and for a moment he wished he wasn’t there and wasn’t having lunch in the pub with his cousins. For a moment, he wished he could be somewhere else, alone, where he could think, where he could lie down and stare at the sky above his head until everything became clear. Or until he woke up from that nightmare that felt so real and that was slowly starting to make his everything hurt.

***

Rose was working furiously on the speech when Scorpius finally came back home that afternoon. She could feel him stopping on the kitchen door and look at her as she stuck her quill into her hair and tried to decipher what she had written on the parchment. It was a hard feat. She had corrected her speech so many times, that it now looked like a big bolt of black ink.

Especially at the beginning, where the word “grandfather” had been written and then cancelled, then added on top, then cancelled again, then added in small writing at the bottom, then cancelled again. How could she tell the crowd that her father had been a wonderful grandfather? He knew that he had grandchildren, she had seen him swallow and turn away quickly from Uncle Harry when he and Aunt Ginny had come to tell him that Lily was expecting. Both times. But he had never tried to reach out to them, he had never tried to Floo Call them, not even when they told him that the children had been born. How could she add that word right there? He wouldn’t have wanted her to.

She finally placed the parchment down again and turned to look at Scorpius.

He seemed relieved that she was acknowledging him. Louis had probably told them everything of the little misunderstanding they had. Well, she hoped he had made her sound like a badass ninja in his tale.

“How was it?” she asked chillily. “Did you have a nice lunch?”

Scorpius nodded as he went to get a Butterbeer from the fridge and peered down at her speech. “Yes, it was nice,” he said. “But we missed you.”

“Liar,” she said matter-of-factly, but she didn’t tell him that appreciated the lie anyway.

“I missed you,” he said candidly.

She didn’t let the smile that she felt was about to bubble over her lips split her face into two. “And the child?” she asked suspiciously. “Did you like him?”

He bit his bottom lip and looked at his Butterbeer, but didn’t reply out loud.

“Scorpius…”

“If I tell you that he was the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen in all my life, you’re going to be mad at me, right?” he mumbled sheepishly.

She pursed her lips. “Not if it’s the truth,” she said calmly.

He finally looked at her and grinned.

“Which I’m sure it isn’t,” she went on coldly. “You said that about Remus as well when you first saw him, and then about John, and Matilda.” She looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. “You just like children.”

Scorpius’ grin slowly morphed into a pout. “Yeah, but this one is different, you know… He’s… he’s…”

“Our nephew?” she enquired frostily.

“ _Your_ nephew…”

She didn’t even deign him of an answer. She looked down again and started to focus on the speech once more, but the words were all blending in together now, and it wasn’t because of the ink bolts.

“You have to see them at some point, you know that, right?” said Scorpius quietly. “Before the funeral, I mean.”

“I don’t see why I should,” she replied coldly.

“Rose, he’s your only brother,” whispered Scorpius. “Don’t you think your father would have liked to know that the two of you… that you got back to at least speaking terms?”

She didn’t look up at him, she kept her eyes trained on the parchment and tried hard to ignore him for the rest of the afternoon.

***

Seeing Grimmauld Place appearing before his eyes in all its majestic façade left Hugo a bit breathless. Teddy had the key to it, as he always did, and he and Victoire were standing next to Hugo as the entrance door materialised in front of them.

Victoire patted his back and smiled warmly at him. “How does it feel?”

“Like being home,” he whispered. Grimmauld Place hadn’t been his home, but he had been there all his life, with Lily. It was the place where he had first made love to her, the place where they had told their parents and siblings that they were dating, the place where they had plotted their elopement. At times, Grimmauld Place had felt more home to him than his parents’ house.

“I know,” said Teddy as he walked past him and to the door. He fished out the key and opened it, announcing that they were finally there.

Hugo could hear voices and greetings and little cries, but nobody came screaming to welcome them.

He followed Victoire inside and suddenly he felt as if he had been thrown back in time. If he closed his eyes, he could hear Lily from up the stairs, telling him to hurry up, that she was waiting for him; he could hear his father from the other room, telling him not to run, that he would wake up the annoying portraits; he could hear his Aunt Ginny, calling them all because dinner was ready, and everything was delicious.

He trailed behind his cousin as if in a dream and found himself in the kitchen without even registering how he had gotten there. Aunt Ginny and his mother were busy preparing some tea already, Uncle Harry was seated at the table, Alex and Remus were seated as well, both very focused on the drawings in front of them.

Remus had grown up so much since last time Hugo had seen him. He was barely a few days old and now he was seven and two months, as he felt the urge to clarify to everybody. He was not very tall, and he still seemed to have difficulties to control his colour-changing hair. When Hugo had seen him earlier, it was blue, then, when they had left the children at Grimmauld Place, it was green, and now he sported the same exact colour as Alex.

“Hey, what are you doing?” asked Hugo as he perched over his son and planted a loud kiss on his head. He looked at Uncle Harry and mouthed, “Has he been good?”

Uncle Harry smiled so genuinely that Hugo had no doubt that he had.

“We’re making drawings for Lily,” piped up Remus. “Because she is coming tomorrow and we’re all going to go and see her!”

Hugo looked at him and smiled. “That’s true, she’s coming tomorrow,” he said gently. “Lily is Alex’s mummy, did you know that Remus?”

“Ye-es,” he sing-songed as if he knew everything about her. “Lily is Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny’s daughter, and Uncle James and Uncle Albus’ sister.”

“Well done,” chuckled Hugo. “I see they filled you in on the family tree.”

“Yeah, we’ve just been bombarded with questions about the long-lost cousins,” said Aunt Ginny, handing him a cup of tea. “Milk, no sugar?”

He smiled at her. “You remember,” he said.

“Daddy,” said Alex, finally looking up from his drawing. “Look, it’s Mummy and Liam, and you and me, and Grandma Ginny and Grandma Hermione, and Grandpa Harry, and Uncle James and Uncle Albus, and Aunt Polly, and Uncle Scorpius, and Remus, and Uncle Teddy and Aunt Victoire, and Uncle Louis and…” He kept going, pointing in turn at every figure on the piece of parchment. Lily had a rectangular, black object next to her, probably her suitcase, and a very round, very big belly.

Hugo smiled at every person he pointed at, Uncle Harry beamed as if his grandson had just created a work of art that should have been bought by the National Gallery and hung in their most prominent gallery.

“It’s a really good picture, Alex,” said Hugo, well impressed. “The colours especially.” He looked at his hair and at Alex’s and Lily’s and Liam’s. “The red is very… very realistic.”

“I used this!” He picked up a white crayon and showed it to him. “It’s a present from Uncle Fred! Look!” He grabbed one of his curls and rubbed the point of the crayon on it. Hugo looked in awe as the crayon turned the exact same shade of red of Alex’s hair. Then he proceeded to touch up some of the people’s hair and Hugo could see how he got the right hue for his drawing.

“Oh, that’s clever,” he said in awe. “It’s from the shop, isn’t it?”

His mother placed a hand on his lower arm. “Your dad invented it,” she whispered softly. “It was a present for Remus’ fourth birthday. There’s his face on the packet.”

Hugo glanced at her first, then down at the packet, where Remus was looking particularly gleeful. His colour-changing hair fit rather well the colour-changing nature of the crayon.

“We’ve got some problems with the skin, right Alex?” said Uncle Harry with a chuckle. “We had to find a bit where there were no freckles…”

“I have to use Remus’ skin,” said Alex resignedly. “Because mine is all a mess…”

Hugo couldn’t help laughing at that. “I feel your pain, mate.”

Aunt Ginny laughed, too, probably understanding as well.

“Daddy, where are we going to sleep, tonight?” asked Alex, seemingly forgetting all about the colour of his skin.

Hugo glanced at Aunt Ginny and at his mother for a moment, they both smiled encouragingly. “Well, you and I are going to sleep here, tonight,” he said. “And tomorrow night, you’re going to sleep here with Mummy and Liam, and I’m going to sleep at Grandma Hermione’s house.”

“Why don’t you sleep with Mummy?” asked Alex. “Is she mad at you?”

“No, she’s not,” he said while Victoire giggled. “But Daddy wants to sleep in his old room, in Daddy’s Mummy’s house.”

“Because you’ve missed her?”

“Yes,” he replied quietly. “Very much.”

Alex nodded wisely, then he went back to his drawing once again. He shook the crayon in the air and it turned white again instantaneously, he rubbed it on his green t-shirt and it turned the same exactly colour, ready to be used again.

“Mummy, when Lily comes can she read us a story from Beedle the Bard?” asked Remus to Victoire. “Alex said that she does all the voices!”

Victoire grinned down at her son. “When Lily comes she’s going to be really tired, Remus,” she said.

“But Mummy does the voices every night, even when she’s very tired,” pointed out Alex. “We can’t fall asleep if she doesn’t do the voices!” He looked particularly abashed as a thought crossed his mind. “I will never sleep tonight without Mummy doing the voices…”

“I’ll read it for you,” said Hugo gently. “We’ll read Babbitty Rabbitty. You like that one.”

“But you’re not as good as Mummy, Daddy,” pointed out his son matter-of-factly.

Hugo snorted. “Well, thank you for your vote of confidence…”

Teddy laughed out loud and everybody else chuckled and giggled at them. Except for Remus who looked genuinely concerned for his new friend.

“I’ll read it to you,” said Uncle Harry, kissing the child’s hair.

“Can you do the voices?” asked Alex suspiciously.

“Who do you think taught your mummy?” he replied with a little wink.

***

Rose gathered up the list with the seating arrangement, her speech, the speeches she had secretly prepared for her mother and for Uncle Harry, the pictures of her father that she had found in her house, the design of the thank you card they would send off to the people who had sent their condolences. She pushed everything in her bag and grabbed a generous fistful of Floo Powder.

“I’ll be home before dinner,” she announced to Scorpius.

He looked up from the Prophet. “Are you going to your mother’s?”

“Yes,” she replied calmly. “There are some things that we have to go through together.”

He nodded. “Okay. Say hi.”

She nodded back, raised the Floo Powder over her head and stopped. “Wait,” she said, turning towards Scorpius. “They… they are not sleeping at my mum’s, are they?”

“I think Hugo said something about sleeping at Grimmauld Place,” he murmured thoughtfully. “He’s probably staying at hers at some point, though, but not tonight.”

She took a deep breath of relief. “Okay, good,” she muttered. “I’ll ask Mum when he thinks he’s staying over.”

“Rose,” sighed Scorpius. “You know that you’re bound to see them before the funeral, right?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

“Because he is your brother?”

“So?”

“Family?”

“I still can’t see your point.”

He shook his head and poured himself over the Prophet again.

“Well, I’m going,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

He nodded, but didn’t reply and finally Rose stepped into the fireplace and threw Floo Powder all over herself, saying her mother’s address loud and clear. She was sucked upwards and forward and, in a fraction of a second, she was stepping out into her mother’s living room.

“Mum?” She placed the bag on the coffee table, the one that her parents had bought in Morocco, and peered into the kitchen. There was nobody there, but she could hear her mother’s voice coming from upstairs.

“Mum?” she called again from the bottom of the stairs.

Suddenly, there was silence, as if Rose had just interrupted something. Then, her mother took some long seconds to reply to her.

“Coming, Rose.”

If that had been a normal day and her father had not died tragically only a few days before, Rose would have caught up on what was going on in that house the moment she heard her mother talking to someone. But she wasn’t thinking straight, no matter what a brave face she put on for the rest of the family, she was distraught; she went through the motions most of the days and cried herself to sleep most of the nights.

The steps on the stairs should have given her another clue, but her mind was already thinking about the one thousand things she had to tell her mother about.

“Mum, I brought the design for the thank you cards,” she said as soon as her mother appeared on top of the stairs. “They are not what I asked them to print, but Scorpius said that they…”

Her voice trailed away as Hugo appeared behind their mother. She gawped at him with wide eyes as he descended the stairs and stared back at her. His face was a tanned mask devoid of all emotions, framed by his long, red curls. He looked so foreign in that moment, so different from what she remembered him to look like, so alike their father. She couldn’t remember him ever looking that much like their father.

She felt her heart skip a beat and then make up for it as it thudded at double the speed. She took a step back, her cheeks on fire and her stomach in knots.

She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready to face him. She wasn’t ready to be civil and she wasn’t ready to fight. She didn’t want to see him, and she suddenly resented her mother for not having let her know that he was there beforehand.

Both her mother and Hugo stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Rose took a step back, her eyes never leaving his face.

God, why did he look so much like their dad? Rose was feeling something at back of her throat, a burning sensation that let her know that she would have started crying soon. She couldn’t allow that. She didn’t even know why she wanted to cry, but she did, and it was annoying and scary.

“Hi Rose,” said Hugo finally. His voice was calm and collected, perfectly cold and distant. And she hated him even more for his composure at that moment.

She pressed her lips together, biting the inside of her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. She swallowed and hoped that her voice wouldn’t come out all wobbly or throaty. “Hi,” she whispered.

He looked at her for a long moment, without adding anything else and Rose had to gather all her courage to stare back at him.

When she finally tore her eyes from him, it was only to look at her mother, who was staring back at them without moving a muscle. “I see you’re busy, Mum,” she said, her voice tinged with nervousness. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“No, Rose,” she said gently. “Stay, please. I was just showing Hugo the pictures that we’ve chosen with Albus. You can help us decide which one we want to blow up.”

Rose’s nostrils flared. “I’m sure you’ll be more than able to cope by yourselves,” she muttered, turning on her heels and making her way towards the coffee table to retrieve her bag.

“Rose,” sighed her mother. “Please.”

She stopped, torn between putting her bag down again, and stepping towards the fireplace. She didn’t know why she was tinkering, she didn’t want to talk to him. Especially not in front of their mother.

“I’m going anyway,” said Hugo. “I’m knackered, and we’ve got a long day tomorrow. I’ll see you in the evening, Mum, okay?”

Her mother let out a tired sigh, as if she didn’t want both her children to go and leave her alone. Rose toyed with the idea of waiting for him to go so that she could stay, or going home and then coming back, pretending that she had forgotten something.

Instead, she didn’t know why, but she decided that she wanted to say something to him. All her nervousness was suddenly forgotten as she prepared to pick a fight with him. “The funeral is not tomorrow,” she said, turning to look at him. “Have they not filled you in on when we’re burying your father?”

Hugo’s jaw set. His blue eyes became two fissures and he looked at her with as much hostility as she felt towards him.

“I know,” he replied coldly. “We have other things to do. Things you wouldn’t be interested in.”

She snorted. “Oh, of course,” she spat. “Go and have fun. Go out for lunch with your cousins, have a night out, bring your children to Shell Cottage for a day at the beach, won’t you? It was only our father who died, you don’t care, do you?”

Hugo’s hostility transformed in pure hatred on his face. “You haven’t changed one bit, have you?” he growled. “Always ready to judge without even knowing what you’re talking about.”

She felt an angry blush creeping up her neck at his words. “I know what I’m talking about,” she hissed. “I’ve been here for the past seven years. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Rose, Hugo, please—”

“What does that have to do with anything?” he snapped.

“It has to do with everything!” she retorted hotly. “I don’t even know why you’re here.”

“Rose!”

Hugo glared at her. “He was my father, too, despite how he treated me and Lily.”

“Hugo, he didn’t—”

“Oh, so what? You’re the good son who comes home and forgives him?” she said mockingly. “A tad late, now, he can’t hear you.”

“Rose! Please, don’t—”

“You know what? I don’t care what you think, I’ve never cared and never will,” he grunted. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mum. Good night.”

“Hugo. No, please darling, don’t—”

Rose stared as their mother chased after him and they both disappeared into kitchen; she could hear their frenzied chatting as they tried, unsuccessfully, to keep their voices down.

She stood there, and without even knowing why, she suddenly felt very guilty and very sad. She grabbed her bag, slouched it over her shoulder and went back to the fireplace, disappearing home before her mother could come and talk to her.

***

Hugo climbed up the stairs of Grimmauld Place with a cup of warm milk in his hands. He had ended up staying at his mother’s much longer than he had expected. He had to stay, though, because once they had heard the swish of the Floo and knew that Rose had left, his mother had looked inconsolable.

He had felt guilty and had hated how he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut and not pick up a fight with his sister, even after all this time. He hated how she could still get under his skin. He had told her that he didn’t care what she thought but he cared, and every single poisonous word that she said to him hurt him more than he liked to admit.

He stopped in front of Lily’s old door and listened to the voices coming from behind it. Uncle Harry was talking, and Alex was talking back, not at all as asleep as Hugo had hoped he’d be, especially after their journey through Portkey.

He opened the door slowly and peered inside. Alex was lying in the big bed, while Uncle Harry was seated next to him, the Tales of Beedle the Bard open on the last page of the Babbitty Rabbitty story, but seemingly forgotten by the two of them. Alex was chatting animatedly about their life in Australia and Uncle Harry kept asking him to elaborate on this or that. Who’s Joshua? And he and his family are Wizards? Do you have a spare room in your house? Have you ever seen a Billywig?

Hugo couldn’t help smiling. He didn’t want to interrupt their conversation, but it was late, and the following day was going to be a long one that would end even later.

He finally pushed the door open and walked inside.

“Still up, little troublemaker?” he grinned.

“Daddy!” exclaimed Alex, delighted to see him. “Grandpa Harry did the voices!”

Hugo looked from Alex to Uncle Harry and back. “And was he good?” he asked cheekily.

“Yes,” replied Alex quietly, looking everywhere but at him.

“He said, and I quote, _You’re good, but Mummy is better_ ,” grinned Uncle Harry. “At least he’s sincere.”

“Oh, rats,” chuckled Hugo. “Sorry about that.”

“Nah, the student became the master, apparently,” said Uncle Harry, standing up. “So, I’ll go, and I’ll see you two tomorrow morning, okay?” He walked towards Hugo and stopped next to him. “All good with your mum?”

“Yeah,” murmured Hugo. “Rose swung by.”

Uncle Harry looked at him, surprised. “Oh, I… was she…”

“She was being Rose,” said Hugo dismissively. He smiled and added, “Good night, Uncle Harry. See tomorrow.”

Uncle Harry patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Then he brought his head closer to Hugo and added in an even more hushed tone, “I know that I shouldn’t feel like this right now, but… I’m really happy that you’re here.” He squeezed his shoulder and finally walked towards the door. “Night, little man,” he said to Alex. “Sleep tight.”

“Night, Grandpa!” said Alex cheerfully before the door closed.

Hugo finally walked to the bed and placed the cup on the bedside table. “Hey,” he said as he looked at his son surrounded with Lily’s old stuffed animals. “So, Grandpa Harry is not as good as Mummy to do the voices, eh?”

Alex shrugged a shoulder dismissively. “Daddy, did you know that this was Mummy’s?” he said, raising a teddy bear. “Uncle Teddy gave it to her when she was six.”

“I know,” he replied as he started to undress. “He gave me one, too.”

“Daddy, why does everybody miss Mummy?”

Hugo Summoned his pyjamas from his suitcase. “Because your Mummy is a nice person, and everybody loves her,” he said gently. “Don’t you think she’s a nice person?”

“Yes,” he replied promptly. “Uncle James says that he misses her this much.”

He probably raised his hands in front of him, but Hugo was busy pushing his head through the pyjamas top.

“Daddy, this much! Look!” he said vehemently.

Hugo finally popped his head through the hole and looked at him. His hands were the farthest apart that they could reach.

“That’s a lot,” said Hugo. “I hope he missed me, too.”

“Yes, this much.” He resized the distance between his hands just a tiny bit.

“Good,” said Hugo satisfied. “Maybe Daddy is a nice person, too, then.”

“But they didn’t miss me, Daddy,” said Alex, pouting slightly. “I’m not nice.”

Hugo pushed the covers away and slipped underneath, sitting with his back against the pillows. He sipped some warm milk, and when Alex wormed closer to him and demanded some, he offered the cup to him, too.

“But Alex, they couldn’t have missed you,” he said gently, “they didn’t know you.” He circled his son’s body and squeezed him against his side. “They are very, very happy to see you, though. How many presents did you receive today?”

Alex gloated at that. “I got the crayon, two teddy bears, a new broomstick, three books that Mummy is going to read to me, a jumper, a hat—”

“These are so many presents,” he interrupted his son, who looked like he could have gone on forever. “That means that they really love you.”

Alex hugged his father’s waist. “Daddy,” he said, yawning.

“Yes?”

“Is Mummy going to cry when we have to go back to Australia?”

Hugo looked down at him, surprised. “Alex, she hasn’t even arrived, yet.”

“But is she?” he insisted.

“Probably. I don’t know. Why?”

“I’m going to cry,” said Alex unexpectedly.

Hugo’s heart skipped a beat. He caressed his son’s red curls away from his forehead, but Alex had his eyes closed already. “Are you?” he whispered softly. “Oh, Alex…”

All his son replied to him with was a light snore that let Hugo know that he had already fallen asleep.

***

Rose checked the contents of her bag for the umpteenth time, even if it was a useless activity, since she hadn’t even opened it from when she had stormed back home the evening before.

Scorpius had sensed what had happened before she even had to open her mouth, and he hadn’t even tried to offer a word of comfort, knowing full well that any conversation would have ended up with her hexing him, and him going running to Albus for some sort of potion that would cure him of boils/pimples/rashes or whatever tickled her fancy that evening.

On the other hand, she had mulled over the encounter with her brother for the whole night, barely sleeping at all. She felt frustrated, angry, guilty, sand, and anxious, a mix of feelings that she had no idea how she could feel all at once. The whole thing was overwhelming, and it left her a mess.

So, that morning, she was determined to at least get rid of the guiltiness. Not towards her brother, no, but towards her mother.

She threw her bag over her shoulder and stepped into the fireplace again, determined to apologise for her behaviour and to go through all the things that she should have gone through the day before with her.

When she stepped into her mother’s living room, she swallowed loudly and called, “Mum?” a bit unsurely.

To her surprise, there were some very quick steps in the kitchen and before she could even take a step forward, her mother appeared on the door. She looked at Rose with eyes filled with happiness and relief.

“Oh Rose!” she exclaimed, bringing a hand to her chest.

Rose felt even guiltier. “Hi Mum. Listen, about last night, I’m—”

“Oh, Rose!” she repeated, bringing the other hand to her temple. “I really don’t feel too well, I’m afraid.” She took some unsteady steps towards her daughter and Rose hurried at her side.

“What?” asked Rose, helping her to sit down on the sofa. “You don’t feel well? Oh, God! Shall I call Dominique? No, no. Do you want to go to St Mungo’s? What is it that you feel? Is it your heart? Your head? Mummy, please, talk to me!”

Her mother looked at her with half-opened eyes. “I think it’s my head,” she said faintly. “I woke up with a terrible migraine.” She smiled tiredly at her. “Oh, no need to call Dominique or go to St Mungo’s, dear. I… took some of Albus’ Sleeping Draught and I think I just need to lie down for a few hours.”

“You took one of Albus’ potions?” She shuddered at the idea. “Oh, Merlin!”

“Rose…”

“Mummy, do you want me to help you get you into bed?” she asked anxiously. “Shall I stay with you? Shall I stay here?”

She shook her head feebly. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Dear,” she said, yawning mightily. “But I have made a commitment this morning, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to carry it out.”

“I’ll do it, Mummy,” replied Rose promptly. “Anything. You don’t worry about anything, okay? I’ll do it for you.”

She smiled at Rose as she finally pushed herself up from the sofa. “Thank you so much, Rose,” she said gently. She started to step towards the stairs and Rose started to climb them up with her. Her mother stopped her straight away, though.

“Oh, I can manage from here,” she said calmly. “You go and take care of my commitment, Rose.” She smiled, and it suddenly looked like a particularly satisfied grin to Rose. “He’s in the kitchen. I promised to look after him until four.”

Rose felt her jaw slacken slowly as she understood what her mother meant. “Beg your pardon?” she asked dazedly. “Mum? What…”

“Thank you, Rose,” she called from the first floor. “I’ll be forever grateful.” She yawned so loudly that Rose heard it from the living room, and it sounded rather forced to her.

She stood there for some long seconds, trying to understand why she had the distinct feeling that her mother had just made a fool of her. Slowly, she turned towards the kitchen, then her feet were moving without her having told them to do so. She took a deep breath and felt her heart hammer in her chest as she finally reached the door that led into the kitchen.

There, kneeling on a chair, there was a little boy. He had red curls, and more freckles than normal people usually have – but totally in the correct range for a Weasley. He had a cute, little nose, and big blue eyes. All of his ten fingers were a covered in chocolate and he was munching enthusiastically on a pile of chocolate chip cookies that he dunked in a cup of milk.

For a moment, Rose was thrown back in time, to Sunday mornings where she helped Hugo steal the chocolate cookies that their mother didn’t want them to have for breakfast and they came downstairs before their parents were even up. She remembered how he looked up at her in awe because she could reach where he couldn’t. Now the roles had reversed, he was more than one foot taller than her and she had to use magic to reach everything.

“Hi,” said the child, bringing her back to reality quite abruptly. He had stopped munching on the cookies and was now looking curiously at her.

Rose swallowed and stepped into the kitchen. “Hello,” she said severely, looking at the cookies. She opened her mouth to reprimand him about his breakfast, but he beat her to it.

“Are you Auntie Rose?” he asked.

She raised her chin and looked down at him. “I…” she started unsurely. “That… that depends. Are you… Hugo’s son?”

The child seemed to think about it, then shrugged a shoulder. “My dad is called Hugo,” he agreed.

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Then yes, I am your aunt.”

He looked at her for a long moment, and she was suddenly very self-conscious. Finally, he said, “You don’t look as scary as Uncle Albus said.”

“Beg your pardon?” she asked outraged. Oh, Merlin. She would kill her cousin and they would bury him next to her father on Monday.

“Uncle Albus said that you’re very, very, very, very scary,” he said, stressing every “very”. “But I’m not scared.”

“Oh,” was all she could reply to that. “Okay.” She had expected him to tell her that she looked like a nice person, but she didn’t know why she would. The boy was only—he was only… Hmm, now that she thought about it she wasn’t sure how old he was. “Hey, how old are you?”

“Six!” he said, raising six chocolate-covered fingers. “And Liam is four.” He raised four. “How old are you?”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t ask a woman her age,” she said dryly.

“Why?” asked the boy calmly.

“Because… because it’s not nice.”

“Why?”

“Because some people don’t like to get old.”

“Why?”

“Because getting old… well, it’s a bit of a nuisance.”

“Why?”

She looked at him with wide eyes and hoped that he could pick up on the annoyance she was feeling at that moment. He just looked back calmly at her, though, so the answer was probably no.

“I’m thirty,” she replied dryly.

He nodded warily. “That’s old. Older than Mummy and Daddy.”

“Yes, I know, thank you.”

“I can’t wait to be old.”

“What? Why?” She took some steps towards him and finally stood on the other side of the table.

“Because when I’m old I’m going to marry Mummy and I’m going to become an Auror like Daddy,” replied the child calmly. “And when I’m old Daddy will take me surfing with him! He takes me already, but we can’t go where the water is too deep because Mummy worries.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Alright, thanks a lot for all those pieces of information about your parents,” she said. “Speaking of, where are your mum and dad?”

The child shrugged his shoulders. “Daddy is with Uncle James and Uncle Albus,” he replied. “They had things to do.”

Rose rolled her eyes. Of course, they did. “And your mum?”

“She’s not here,” said the child calmly. “She’s arriving this evening and we’re all going to see her when she arrives!” He sipped some milk and looked up at Rose again. “I miss her, but not too much because I saw her only yesterday and I’ll see her again today, so Daddy says that it’s okay if I don’t miss her too much.”

“Wait,” said Rose, placing her hands on the table. “Your mum is not here? What do you mean? She didn’t take the Portkey with you and your dad?”

He shook his head and climbed down from the chair, walking around it until he was standing near her legs. “No, she couldn’t!” he said seriously. “Because she is this big!” He made a gigantic circle all around him, pushing out his belly as he did. “And she can’t take the Portkey. And Daddy let Liam go with her so that he can look after her.”

Rose looked down at him, eyes agape. “Excuse me? Your mum is pregnant? Again?”

He nodded seriously.

“Wow, Really? She’s expecting what? Child number twenty?” she snorted.

The child looked at her with his blue eyes very serious. “She’s expecting Emma,” he said gravely.

“Emma?” she sniffed. “Why Emma?”

“Because it’s a girl.”

“No, I mean, why the name Emma,” she clarified for him.

“Because Mummy’s bestest friend is called Emma,” said the child with a grin. “And Daddy said that it was good because it was four letters.” He raised four fingers again. “Like his name and Mummy’s name and like Alex and Liam.”

She looked at the child. Alex, his name was Alex. She must have known it, she must have had that piece of information somewhere in the back of her head, but she had not bothered to look it up in her brain.

“Rose has four letters, too,” she muttered, looking away.

Alex ignored her. “Daddy is veeeeery happy that Mummy is having a girl,” he went on, standing on tiptoes as he stole another cookie and brought it to his mouth. “But I’m not too happy.”

“Why not?”

“Because girls are yucky,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Excuse me! I’m a girl.”

“I know,” he said simply.

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Even your mum is yucky?” she asked with a tiny lopsided grin. “She’s a girl, too, you know?”

“No! Mummy is not yucky!” he protested.

“And am I?” asked Rose haughtily.

He looked at her for a long moment, considering carefully his answer. Then he finally said, “You’re not _too_ yucky.”

“Thank you,” snorted Rose. She looked down at him and saw that Alex was looking up at her expectantly, probably wanting her to entertain him in some way.

“So…” she started unsurely. “Your mum is not here, yet, and your dad is with his cousins.”

He nodded patiently.

“Your grandparents?”

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay… What… what were you doing with Grandma Hermione?” she asked, looking at the table. “Apart from going on a sugar high any moment now…”

Alex thought carefully about what to reply to her, then he grinned and said, “She said that today we go to the park, then have a gigantic pizza for lunch, then we have fairy floss for snack, then we go swimming at the beach, then we go to see the dinosaurs at the museum, then we go to buy me a present, then we—”

“Hey!” she interrupted him, trying hard to sound stern, but finding it very difficult at that moment. “I don’t think that Grandma Hermione would have suggested all these things… especially not the beach and the… what’s fairy floss anyway?”

He looked at her as if she came from another planet. “You don’t know what fairy floss is?” he exclaimed in disbelief. “It’s the bestest thing in the whole world! It’s like eating a cloud and it’s sweet and it gets stuck to your fingers and you have to lick them all clean and it’s soooooo good.”

Rose looked at him as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “Well, okay, but like… I have no time to… to take you to all of these place…”

He stopped his bouncing and looked suddenly very dejected, his lips curving downwards in a pout. “But… but Grandma said…” He sniffled loudly and looked up at her with very sad puppy eyes. “Grandma said that we could do all these things…”

In hindsight, Rose had no doubt believing him that her mother had really said that. After all, she had probably planned to leave the midget in her care all along, of course her mother would tell him that someone would take him to all of these places.

“Well,” she started unsurely. “Maybe we can go to the park.” She looked at him as his face brightened up instantaneously. “And to have pizza for lunch, but that’s all, okay?”

“Yes!” he shouted, springing forward and throwing his arms around her waist. “Thank you, Auntie Rose, you’re the bestest aunt in the whole world!”

***

“Bloody hell,” muttered Hugo as he stepped inside what remained of the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Albus, James and Fred stood on the door, waiting quietly for him while he surveyed the place.

It looked like those drawings of Hogwarts after the Second Wizarding War, the ones that he had seen on his History of Magic textbooks all through his life. Hugo could vaguely recognise the shape of the shop, because he remembered seeing it half-empty during restocking more than once, but it was a completely different sight from what it once had been.

Shelves, products, potions, and leaflets had been torn to pieces and blown up all over the place. There wasn’t a single inch of floor left where Hugo could put his feet without stepping on something. Some of the posters that advertised the latest products hanged half-torn on the walls. Hugo could recognise Remus’ smiley face on one of them as he showed up a painting he had done with his crayon.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the shop as it once was. Filled with customers, with his father and Uncle George shouting stuff at each other from one side to the other of the shop, with people laughing and looking around themselves in awe at all the new products that joined the old ones at a daily speed. It was the loudest and happiest place on earth, and now it was all gone.

He took a sharp breath as James patted his shoulder.

“Don’t go in too far,” he said quietly. “We still have to finish getting rid of the residual magic.”

He nodded and took a step forward and away from him. If nothing had changed since he was last there, seven years before, the potions had been stocked in the third aisle to the right, far away from any window to avoid sunlight and keep them stable.

He didn’t want to put himself into danger, a quick thought at his sons and Lily would prevent him from going anywhere where he could sense a slow and painful death – or even a quick and painless one – but he had to see. He had to see the place where his dad had died.

“Hugo,” called Fred, voice tinged with worry. “Don’t get too close, okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied absent-mindedly.

He walked slowly, carefully placing each foot where nothing cracked under his soles, far away from potions and products that seemed to vibrate and move of their own accord. A poster chose exactly that moment to half-peel off the wall and fold over itself and Hugo stopped dead.

Cursing under his breath when nothing happened, he kept going, resolute more than ever to have a quick look at the potion aisle and get out of there.

He slipped on the pieces of a broken Fanged Frisbee and the product let out an angry growling sound. Hugo hurried to step off it and stumbled upon a pile of Headless Hats.

“Hey, Hugo,” called Albus unsurely from near the entrance. “You okay?”

“I’m good,” he muttered in reply.

He swallowed loudly and finally reached what he thought might have been the position of the potions aisle. He knew he was right when he saw the puddle of luminescent liquid, vibrating with dangerous magic, moving slightly and looking rather menacing.

As he had expected, there was no blood or human bits to make the scene gory and unbearable. Unexpectedly, though, there were still some steps on the ground, someone had slipped on the potions, there was the distinct shape of a hand that had moved slowly, probably his last movement.

He suddenly could see him very well. The explosion. His father falling, slipping on the potions, the last remnants of his life leaving him before Roxanne could even reach him, him exhaling his last breath. Hugo suddenly wondered what his last thought was. Had he thought about his wife? About his daughter? About his son? About the fact that they hadn’t spoken for seven years? That he had never even seen his grandchildren?

Hugo took a step back and slid slightly on the sticky liquid. He cursed again, louder this time, and he could hear his cousins stepping towards him and calling his name again.

He turned away from the scene and ran out, bumping into them on his way to the door, because the air had suddenly become very stuffy in there. He was breathing, but it was like he couldn’t find a bit of oxygen in the air.

He could hear his cousins asking him if he was alright as they followed him outside, but all he could do was slumping to the ground and heaving the content of his breakfast in the street.

***

“Higher! Higher, Auntie Rose!”

“Higher than this and you’ll bump into those branches!”

Nonetheless, Rose pushed the swing with a bit more force and Alex laughed contentedly. She considered taking out her wand and let magic push him, but this was a Muggle park and she couldn’t risk it. She had done it that morning, but they had been at the park in Hogsmeade, and that was a Wizarding park filled with little witches and wizards, so it was all right, but this was the park right in front of her parents’ house, and she couldn’t risk being seen doing magic. _Again_. Not that she had done magic in front of Muggles in the past. Oh God! Not her. But when she was little maybe some accidental magic here and there, nothing that her mum or her dad hadn’t managed to play it down really quickly with the other children and their parents, but still… Nonetheless, Hugo had always been much worse than her with accidental magic when he was a child. Always prone to sudden bursts of anger or sudden bursts of happiness that caused another child’s ice-cream to melt instantaneously or for him to land on a cloud of candy floss.

“Auntie Rose, look! A Billywig!” cried Alex excitedly, pointing towards a big buzzing bug that flew quickly right in front of them.

“Alex!” exclaimed Rose, bringing the swing to a sudden halt. “What did I tell you? You have to grab the chains with both hands, especially when you’re going that fast.” She sighed and looked at the bug. “And we don’t have Billywigs here, they are only in Australia.” She took the chance to rest her arm a little and went to sit on the swing next to his.

“That’s what Mummy always says,” he said, his voice small. “That I always, always, always have to hold with two hands. But I’ve never fallen from any swing in all my life, and I’ve gone on the swings since I was a tiny baby. No! Since I was still in Mummy’s tummy, like Emma.”

Rose looked at him as he tried to give himself a bit of movement with his short legs, his face all focused on the task at hand. He looked so much like Hugo at his age, her heart kept giving little jolts every time she looked at him. She had to keep focusing on his nose, small and cute and so Lily-like, to make sure that she hadn’t travelled back in time.

“Auntie Rose?” said Alex all of a sudden. “Do you think that Mummy is going to be tired when she arrives?”

Rose pushed the gravel with her feet a bit. “I bet she’ll be dead tired,” she said truthfully. “I bet she’ll sleep very well tonight.”

“But will she cuddle me a little?” asked Alex fretfully. “Because Daddy said that I didn’t have to miss her too much, but I do miss her a little bit…”

Rose smiled as she turned to look at him. “I’m sure you’re going to sleep with her and Daddy and she’ll cuddle you until you both fall asleep,” she said matter-of-factly.

“But Daddy is sleeping at Grandma Hermione’s house tonight,” said Alex, “because he missed her, too, and he wants to stay with her a little.”

Rose bit her bottom lip. It was nice to have some sort of involuntary heads up on her brother’s sleeping arrangements. “Even better, then,” said Rose cheerfully. “You’ll have your mummy all to yourself.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Liam is going to be there, too,” he said. “He always sleeps with Mummy and Daddy when he has a nightmare or when there’s a thunderstorm.”

“And you don’t?” asked Rose, grinning at him.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “But Mummy says that nightmares are not real and then she kisses me three times and I’m not scared anymore.”

“Well, your mum is right,” said Rose quietly. Lily had always been very sensible. Rose remembered when they were little: Lily would be the voice of reason with her brothers, and they adored her and did everything she said, and she never took advantage of them. She envied their relationship at times.

“Daddy says that Mummy is always right,” said Alex, “but we can’t tell her that…”

Rose had to bite her bottom lip again to stop herself from giggling.

“My most favourite thing today was the beach,” he said suddenly. “Even though the ocean is weird here, you can’t see your feet when you’re inside, and there are no turtles and whales. What was your most favourite thing, Auntie Rose?”

She pretended to think about it, then she said, “The dinosaurs at the museum. I like the triceratops.”

“Oh, that’s the big one with the horns!” exclaimed Alex. “I like that, too.” He looked at Rose and added, “Is that my word of the day? Triceratypos.”

“Triceratops,” she corrected gently. “And do you learn a new word a day?”

“Yes, Mummy makes me do it,” he said. “I’ve done _immense_ , _extracurricular,_  and _compassion_. And lots, lots, lots of others. But I don’t always remember all of them.”

Rose’s eyebrows rose on her forehead. “You’ve done… _compassion_?”

“Yes,” said the child, as he tried to push himself forward. “When Mummy brings a cake that she makes to the poor people I always go with her and she says that we need compassion then.”

Rose stared at Alex for the longest time. She could barely imagine her nephew’s life in Australia, alone with Hugo and Lily, in a place so different from England she had only ever read of it. She had imagined the two of them to struggle, to be unable to take care of their own children by themselves, but he seemed a more than perfectly normal child, with a more than perfectly normal childhood.

“Auntie Rose?”

“Yes, Alex?”

“Do I have to have lots of greens for dinner tonight?” he asked a bit disconsolately.

She tried not to laugh at his tone. “Why would you? I think you should have whatever you want. What do you want? Macaroni and cheese? Sushi? A hamburger?”

His eyes shone for a moment at the prospect of another yummy meal, but then he looked down and sighed. “Because Mummy says that we always have to eat greens every day. And I hadn’t had any greens today…”

“Rubbish,” said Rose lightly. “Your pizza had tomato sauce, right? Where do you think that comes from?”

He grinned at that. “Tomatoes!” he exclaimed.

“And the candy floss? That comes from sugar that comes from the sugar cane, which is definitely a plant.” Rose stopped her swing and furrowed her brow. What was she saying? That sounded like something that “cool and irresponsible Uncle James” would tell him. Why would she blabber on about these things?

Alex’s eyes seemed to shine so brightly that they would have lighten up the whole playground. “I’ve had lots of greens, then!” he exclaimed. “I want a hamburger! With extra chips!”

“Chips… see? More greens,” she said softly, unable to restrain herself as he agreed happily.

“And then we’re going to see Mummy and Liam, and then we’re going home, and Mummy is reading me a story and she’s doing the voices! Yes! Can you do the voices, Auntie Rose?”

“The voices?”

“Yes! When Mummy reads us a book she does all the voices! Mummy is super good, while Daddy not so much, but Daddy uses magic to make the Muggle books move, and Mummy makes the voices and it’s really cool, you know?”

“I bet it is,” mused Rose. “It looks like your Mummy has read all the Wizarding Parenting books that have ever been published.”

“She’s read Beedle the Bard, Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, the Little Duckling, the Gruffalo, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, the Little Prince, Alice in Wonderland, the Secret Garden—”

“Lots,” Rose cut him off.

“Yes,” said Alex. “Now I can read, too, but I’m not as good as Mummy so she reads to us every day.”

“I like to read, too, you know?”

“I know,” he said unexpectedly. “Mummy said that you taught her.”

Rose looked at him, surprised. “Your… your mum talks about me?”

Alex nodded. “Yes, Mummy talks about everybody,” he said. “Mummy said that you taught her to read and you taught her everything about Hogwarts, and that you’re her favourite cousin, and because I don’t have any cousin she’s teaching me everything about Hogwarts, too.”

Rose stared at Alex, unable to proffer a word. Lily told her child that she was her favourite cousin. Lily talked about her to him. Lily still thought about her.

“Hogwarts is soooo cool, isn’t it? I can’t wait to go!”

Rose swallowed and looked away from him, suddenly feeling rather resentful towards Lily for telling Alex about her without even knowing why. “Yeah, well, it’s not sure that you’ll get to go, you know?” she said.

“I know,” he said calmly. “Daddy said that I can go to Hogwarts or to Thundelarra, but I don’t want to go there, I want to go to Hogwarts.”

“No,” she pressed on, “I mean that not everybody gets to go to Hogwarts, you know? Even when both parents are wizards. Sometimes… sometimes some children don’t get to go…”

“Oh,” he said, voice tiny. “But I want to go…”

“Yeah, but you can’t decide,” she said curtly. “Sometimes when Mummy and Daddy… when they are very, very, very close, the child might be… might not be able to go to Hogwarts.”

Alex looked at her, his face a mask of horror. “But… but… I want to go to Hogwarts…” he said.

“Yeah, well… you can’t decide.”

“What on earth are you doing?”

Rose’s head snapped up as she halted the swing.

Albus was looking at her with a confused expression over his face.

“How did you know we were here?” asked Rose as she went to retrieve her bag and the plastic bag with Alex’s present, a plushy t-rex they got at the museum shop.

“Your mum told me,” he said, nodding towards the house. “She saw you from the window.” He looked from her to Alex, who was seated on the swing, seemingly deep in thought. “Were you telling my nephew that he’s a Squib?” he asked sharply.

“No,” she said defensibly.

“It sounded just like that,” he said going to pick him up and hoisting him on his hip. Alex leant his head on his uncle’s shoulder. He glared at her, and Rose cursed herself for blushing.

“I didn’t,” she said curtly.

Albus shook his head, then turned it towards his nephew. “Hey, Alex, ready to go and pick up Mummy at the airport?” he asked gently.

The child nodded, but didn’t reply, seemingly still too shocked by the news.

Albus turned to glare at Rose again. “You can’t just try to be a normal person for once, can you?” he hissed. “Let’s go, Alex, Daddy is waiting for us, and then we’re all off with Grandpa Harry’s car, okay? And Mummy is going to be so happy to see you…”

Rose looked as Albus walked out of the playground with Alex in his arms. The child raised his head a little from his shoulder, only to give her a misty-eyed glance and wave at her.

She waved back, feeling suddenly very guilty to have ruined the best day she had in years.

***

Hugo was helping Uncle Harry set the table when Albus and Alex stepped out of the fireplace. Albus was holding Alex in his arms and his son was clutching his uncle’s neck tightly.

Hugo let out a little snort. “Hey, Alex, the Floo here works exactly like back at home, you know? There’s no need to clutch at your uncle’s neck like that.”

Upon hearing his father’s voice, the child raised his head and turned to look at him. Big, fat tears spilling over the corners of his eyes.

Hugo opened his arms and hurried to them as Alex pushed himself off his uncle and towards him. “Daddy!” he sobbed.

“Merlin,” muttered Hugo, holding his son in his arms. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Albus let out a sigh and shook his head.

“What?” he mouthed to him as Alex sobbed against his neck.

“Daddy!” he sobbed again. “I… I can’t go… I can’t go to Hogwarts!”

“What?” exclaimed Hugo, jerking his head back to look at him. “What nonsense are you on? Who told you that?” He looked at Albus, though, not expecting Alex to reply.

“Auntie Rose,” sobbed the child.

Hugo looked back at Alex as he sobbed a bit more, then at Albus. “Excuse me?” he said sharply. “When did you see Auntie Rose?”

“He spent the day with her,” said Albus with a sigh. “Your mother tricked her to stay with him all day.”

“What?” he asked, feeling rather angry with his mother. “And what did Auntie Rose say?” he asked, pushing back Alex a bit more roughly than he had intended to look into his eyes.

Alex sobbed quietly before replying. “That… that when Mummy and Daddy are very, very, very, very close sometimes their child doesn’t go to Hogwarts.”

Hugo swallowed his rage and all the curses that he wanted to shout at that moment. He hugged Alex tightly to his chest and turned towards Uncle Harry, handing him his son. “I’ll be right back,” he hissed, as he detached Alex from himself despite the child’s resistance at letting him go.

“Hugo,” murmured Uncle Harry. “I’m sure she didn’t…”

“I’m sure she did,” he hissed.

“No, listen, mate, she’s not… I mean, you know how she is, don’t you? She—”

“I don’t bloody care,” hissed Hugo, looking down at Albus with rage. “She can be a horrible person to me, but not to my children or Lily, okay?”

And before anybody else could try to persuade him to let it go, he was gone.

***

When Rose Flooed home, she stumbled through the fireplace and bumped her knee against the coffee table. She let out a muttered curse and plummeted on the sofa.

She had snapped very harshly at her mother, when she had asked Rose how her day had gone, and then she had hurriedly left to come home and sulk all evening. All night probably.

She felt rather horrible at that moment. She didn’t even know what had prompted her evil reply to Alex’s comments on her and Lily, but she had felt suddenly very vulnerable at being described as “his mummy’s favourite cousin”, as if she had spent the past seven years thinking that Hugo and Lily had instructed their children on hating her, and suddenly discovered that it wasn’t like this at all. And now she felt horrible and drained of all energies as she thought at Alex’s dismayed tone as he came to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t have gone to Hogwarts. Why did she have to tell him? Why couldn’t she shut up? Why—

There was a swish of the Floo and Rose’s eyes darted up, expecting to see Scorpius looking down at her and commenting on her gloomy expression. Instead, she felt her heart skip a beat.

Hugo was standing there. In the middle of her living room, his eyes were two fissures filled with hatred, his face a mask of loathing directed to her.

She swallowed, suddenly feeling very small compared to him.

“You’re quite a piece of work, aren’t you?” he hissed, his hands balling up into fists.

She grasped the cushions under her legs in a nervous gesture and bit her bottom lip. “I had to tell him,” she admitted feebly. “I… it’s proven, it’s in the book, I…”

“What? You think I don’t remember?” he snorted. “You copied six feet of parchment from the _Book of Common Pure-Blooded Family Maladies_ and sent it to Lily the night before we left.” He shook his head and his hatred, if possible, intensified. “She’s never hated you as much as that night.”

She swallowed and had to grit her teeth to keep herself from sobbing out an apology. “It’s proven,” she whispered, instead, “that children born of incest can have genetic defects. Muggles have children with mental and physical problems, and Wizards have Squibs.”

He took a step towards her, and Rose quivered slightly. She was almost completely sure that he wouldn’t hex her, but she knew that she was pushing his limits. She had heard how Alex talked about his parents, they were a tightly-knitted family. She had probably crossed some invisible line when she had told him those things.

“First of all,” he hissed, “we didn’t care back then, and we don’t care now if any of our children are Squibs, okay? We will love them, and we will never abandon them like our family has done with us.”

She felt like “family” was not the word that he had intended to use there, and she knew whose names he would have rather said.

“Second,” he went on, “Alex is going to Hogwarts. That’s final. There or in Australia, he is going to get a magical education.”

“You can’t possibly know that—”

“He’s already done magic,” snapped Hugo. “Both him and his brother, okay? Happy? Can you put your head at rest now? And if Emma is going to be a Squib, we don’t care. We’ve brought them up with Wizards and Muggles alike exactly for that reason: they’re going to be able to function in any world they choose to live in.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t find anything to say. She felt horrible. She had upset her nephew and for no reason at all. That was what made her feel the worst. It had been all for nothing, she could have kept her mouth shut and now Alex would have told his dad all about the wonderful day they had had together.

“Next time you feel the urge to upset my son,” he spat at least, “please, bite your tongue and chew on it, will you?”

He turned towards the fireplace and grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder, but before he could throw it all over himself, Rose found her voice again.

“Hugo!”

He stopped, but didn’t even turn to look at her.

“You…” she started unsurely. “You and Lily are doing a fine job with that boy. He’s… he’s amazing…”

Hugo didn’t move. He didn’t turn to look at her, but he didn’t throw the Floo Powder either. For a long moment Rose thought that he had been petrified, then finally he half-turned his head towards her, without really looking at her, muttered, “Thank you.” And then he was gone.

***

When Hugo stumbled through the fireplace at Grimmauld Place, Alex looked like he was alright again. Probably his uncles and his grandparents and the various cousins that were gathering there to go and pick up Lily all together had managed to distract him with tales and games. When he walked out of the fireplace, though, he ran towards him and grinned hugely.

“Did you get my dinosaur, Daddy?” he asked happily.

“Your what?” asked Hugo, as he bent down to pick him up.

“Auntie Rose bought me a dinosaur at the museum today!” he exclaimed. “A t-rex, she said, and I learnt a new word today.” He stopped and took a deep breath, focusing on the word. “Triceratops!”

“That’s a very good word, Mummy will be happy,” said Hugo as he smiled at him. He went to sit on the sofa next to James with Alex on his lap. “Alex, you know that you’re going to Hogwarts, right?” he said calmly.

“But Auntie Rose said—”

“Auntie Rose doesn’t know that you’ve already done magic,” he said calmly. “Remember when we went to see the whales with Mummy and Liam?”

Alex grinned at him and nodded.

“Remember that you were crying that you wanted to take one home with you? And that Mummy and I told you that you couldn’t because we didn’t have enough space for a whale?” he went on.

“Yes,” he said.

“And what happened then? Do you remember?”

Alex giggled. “I made the whale shrink and I held it in my hands!” he said proudly. “And it was this tiny.” He raised his thumb and index finger a couple of inches apart. “But you and Mummy still said that I couldn’t keep it…”

“I’m sorry, he did what?” asked James, his tone disbelieving and proud at the same time. “He shrunk a whale?”

“Yeah,” sighed Hugo, “and his brother flooded the house, once when it was thundery outside, and he wanted to go to the beach anyway…”

“Really?” asked Aunt Ginny. “How old was he?”

“Two,” sighed Hugo.

“That young?” exclaimed Albus.

“Sometimes Lily and I joke that it would have been better if they really were Squibs,” chuckled Hugo, but then he grinned at Alex and hugged him tightly at his chest. “But we wouldn’t exchange our two tiny wizards for anything in the world…”

Alex let his dad squish him for a while, until he got bored of cuddling and pushed him back. “Daddy? When are we going to see Mummy?” he asked, wriggling free of his father’s arms to slide to the floor and pick up a toy broomstick.

“We’re leaving as soon as your Grandma Hermione arrives,” said Uncle Harry, “and we’re meeting the others at the M3 junction.”

“Is Mummy gonna cry when she sees her mum and dad?” asked Alex, looking at his grandparents.

“She might as well,” laughed James. “Your mum is terrible with these kinds of things, Alex.”

***

It took Rose half an hour to remember that Scorpius would come home late that evening. He was going with her family to pick up Lily. She had thought about going as well. A stupid idea that she had dismissed quickly, but for a moment she had really wanted to go and see her.

She was grateful that he had gone with them, though, she didn’t want to talk to anybody that evening.

She just wanted to go to bed and stare at the ceiling as she thought about her father and cried herself to sleep.

***

Heathrow was packed. You could tell that it was the end of August and that schools were about to get started because, every time a plane landed, the Arrivals was flooded with crowds of British people returning from some exotic place in various shades of magenta and brown colours. Everybody looked rather tired of the trip and they all seemed to be looking for something, either someone else who had come to pick them up, or directions to the tube or the bus or the taxis.

Everybody was so preoccupied with their own journey that they barely noticed as the hoard of people that made up the extended Weasley family flooded the terminal towards six in the afternoon.

Hugo had seated Alex on the railings that divided the waiting area from where the passengers would come out, right after having collected their luggage. The boy was bouncing excitedly and looking attentively every time, the sliding doors opened, and someone came out. “Not Mummy,” he kept saying whenever someone came out.

Hugo snorted out a laughter. “I know, Alex,” he kept replying to him. “I know what she looks like.”

James and Albus were looking particularly restless as they stood there next to Hugo. They had barely talked at all in the car, and they kept fidgeting nervously – more nervously than Alex – every time someone came out.

“It says landed there,” said Dominique as some point. “Why is she taking so long?”

“She has to go through security,” Uncle Harry reminded her. “And collect her suitcase.”

“And maybe stop at the restroom, you know…” added Aunt Ginny, who had barely been able to contain her grin ever since that morning.

“And she’s travelling with a child,” added Uncle Percy.

“Yeah,” said Uncle Bill. “Calm down, Dom.”

“What if there was some problem?” said Roxanne, suddenly fretful. “What if she gave birth on the plane?”

“Roxy!” snapped James. “Shut up, she’s fine.” He turned towards Hugo and added in a whisper, “Isn’t she?”

“I should hope so,” said Hugo, biting his bottom lip.

They all stared in front of them in silence as the minutes went by; all their eyes trained on those sliding doors that kept spitting out children and families and girls that were not Lily.

At some point, Fred and Louis disappeared to get something to eat and came back with two bunches of flowers that they had bought at a vending machine. Then everybody wanted to get a bunch of flowers for Lily, and in the end whoever looked their way would do a double take because there were more flowers than people waiting for Lily.

Even Alex had ended up with flowers in his hands, one from every bunch, but he got tired of holding them, so Hugo had to do that while he tried not to let him fall from the railings.

Then, finally, the doors opened, and Hugo’s heart skipped a beat as he saw Liam seated on top of the suitcases which were piled on top of a big trolley. Alex was the first one to scream for them, having recognised his little brother, and when he pointed and tried to jump down everybody seemed to become alert all of a sudden.

Then Lily finally walked out, too. She was pushing the trolley easily enough that Hugo knew she had cast it under a spell. She was talking to Liam seriously, probably telling him to look out for Daddy and Alex. She had her hair pulled up into a messy bun, even messier than usual, since she must have slept on it on the plane, her face was quite pale, and she looked very tired, but she looked determined to push the trolley all the way to Grimmauld Place if that was what it took her to get home.

She didn’t have to. In fact, she couldn’t take a step more because James and Albus had pushed a young couple out of their way without having turned to apologise – “I’m so sorry,” was saying Uncle Harry, helping them with their suitcases, “but my daughter has just come back after seven years and her brothers are very happy to see her!” – and they had thrown themselves at Lily.

Hugo was happy to see that her stop at the restroom must have been used to get rid of the Concealing Charm as well, because, even though James and Albus knew that she was pregnant, they had seemed to barely remember it now that they were running towards her.

Her tired face split up into a grin when she saw her two brothers running towards her. She let out a sudden cry, let go of the trolley, and threw her arms around James’ neck as he grabbed her around her waist and made her twirl.

Albus threw himself at her from behind and she twisted her body to hug him, too. They stayed like that for some long seconds, until James’ shoulder started to shake slightly and they all knew that he was crying.

“Oh my God,” said Polly, voice broken. “Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?”

Hugo’s heart swelled in his chest. He stared at the scene, now Lily was crying, too, and she was laughing, and she was hugging them and kissing them, and they were hugging her back, and caressing her hair, and people started to stare as they walked past.

On the trolley, eyes wide and a bewildered expression over his face, Liam was staring at the two men that were crushing his mother in a tight embrace. He was still as a statue, and looked so lost that Hugo finally put Alex down and let him go to him.

“Liam! Liam!” called Alex excitedly, running towards him.

Liam turned, and he looked visibly pleased to see his brother; he made it to jump down from the trolley, but Hugo managed to grab him before he landed on his face.

“Daddy!” he exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

“Hi, Liam,” he said, hugging him back. “How are you? Tired? Did you sleep on the plane?”

He tried to reply to his dad, he really did, bless him, but he couldn’t because James and Albus had finally let Lily go and everybody was now hugging her, and once they did they turned their attention to Liam, swooning and saying how cute he was again, and how much like Hugo and like Alex he looked.

Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were kissing and hugging the hell out of Lily, crying and laughing and touching her belly and probably commenting on it and on all the things that her mother had prepared for dinner once they got to Grimmauld Place.

It was only after about half an hour, after many passers-by had stopped and pointed at Lily, and some had even taken pictures of her as she was squeezed by the biggest party that had ever come to pick two people up, that Hugo had finally managed to reach her.

He smiled down at her teary and smiley face and hugged her tightly, but less savagely than the others.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey,” she whispered back.

He kissed her forehead and she hugged him back. “You okay?”

“Dead tired,” she admitted. “But so happy to be home.”

“I bet you are,” he said with a smile. “How’s she?” His hand ghosted on her belly and he could feel his daughter pushing back against his palm.

Lily grinned at him. “Apparently, she’s excited to be with Daddy again,” she whispered. “She was very quiet during the flight.”

“Mummy!” said Alex, finally able to throw himself at her legs. He stood on tiptoes and raised his arms, bouncing on his feet to ask her to pick him up. She bent her knees a little and tried to, but Hugo scolded her and helped him up and to his mother’s eye level.

“I missed you so much, sweetie pie,” said Lily, hugging him while Hugo held him.

“I missed you, too, Mummy,” he said contentedly.

“Oh, God! Stop it, you lot,” said Fred suddenly, “or that something that got into your brothers’ eyes is gonna end up in mine, too…”

Hugo grinned at him and Lily laughed, then they were finally able to walk to the cars all together, with their family finally fussing over Lily and Liam instead of Hugo and Alex.

***

When Scorpius came home that evening, Rose pretended to be sleeping. She cocooned herself underneath the sheets and schooled her breathing to slow down. Nonetheless, he perched over her on the bed and kissed her cheek tenderly.

“I wish you would have come with us, Rose,” he whispered. “Lily was so happy, and Liam is even cuter than Alex.” He paused and then added, “Don’t tell Alex I said that.” He paused again and finally said, “Nighty night, Rose. Love you.”

***

“Are you sure you’re going to sleep at your mum’s?” yawned Lily. “You can fit on the bed with us.”

He looked up at her from his suitcase, she was half propped on a pile of pillows and with her arms wrapped around their sleeping children; a variety of soft toys from her childhood surrounded the three of them and she looked ready to fall asleep any minute, now.

He smiled at her. “It’s okay,” he said, “I promised her, and you’re going to be more comfortable like that.”

“I think I would fall asleep even if I was standing, tonight.”

“ _That_ tired, eh?” he said gently as he closed his suitcase.

She nodded and yawned. “I want to know everything,” she murmured, closing her eyes. “Everything that happened in the past two days…”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he said, walking to her and kissing her temple. “Sleep, now, okay?”

She hummed a reply and he switched off the light on the bedside table.

“Night, my love,” he said softly, but she never replied, and he knew that she had already fallen asleep.

***

Rose was aware of the owner of the library staring at her from the door. She also knew that he knew that she was aware of his presence. Not that he had tried to make it subtle, he had thanked the house elf kindly when he brought him his tea, and he was now stirring it vigorously into his cup, letting the silver teaspoon clink against the fine china walls.

She pretended to focus on the book open in her lap, but the words didn’t make sense at all. It might have helped her if she turned it upside down and in the right direction, but it was too late to do it now and let Mr Malfoy know that she hadn’t really been reading at all.

Not he would have probably minded it. He knew she often came to the Manor to be away from everything and everybody. Especially Scorpius and Albus when she had a row with either one or both of them.

He sipped his tea and she could hear the subtle slurping sound that he had let out on purpose, then he finally walked to where she was seated, in the green velvet armchair, with her legs tightly knotted and her knuckles white for the force with which she grasped the book.

“I have a feeling,” he said calmly, “that you’re here because your prodigal brother has come home.”

She frowned as she stared at the upside-down book and refused to look at him. “Scorpius should just shut up, sometimes,” she muttered.

Mr Malfoy hummed and sipped some more of his tea. “I agree,” he said, “but in his defence, he hadn’t come to the Manor to tell me the latest gossip on your familial situation. He came to gush over Hugo and Lily’s children. Apparently, they are—his words not mine— _absolutely brilliant_.”

Rose bit her bottom lip and shrugged a shoulder. “He just likes children,” she grumbled. “He always finds them all brilliant.”

“That’s what I told him,” went on Mr Malfoy. “He said that he thought that Remus was cute as a button, but that these two were gorgeous, then he admitted that it might be because he is going to be related to them starting from next year.”

Rose looked at him and snorted. “He is literally Remus’ second cousin once removed,” she said. “He’s related to him by blood.”

“Yes, Rose,” said Mr Malfoy, “I told him that, too.” He sighed. “I believe Remus has just gotten himself a couple more toys this morning from his newfound second cousin once removed.”

Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes, but didn’t reply.

Mr Malfoy sipped some more tea and placed the cup delicately on the saucer. “Have you talked to Hugo, Rose?” he asked calmly.

She bit down hard on her bottom lip, not wanting to share her two previous conversations with her brother. Nonetheless, she was there only for one reason, and that reason was definitely not reading. “Twice,” she said, “we quarrelled both times.”

“I see,” he commented simply.

Rose looked back at him. “I… I was… I said some things that I didn’t mean,” she stammered. “I told their child that he was a Squib because his parents are first cousins.”

“And is he?”

“No,” she replied disconsolately. “Neither of them is, apparently.” She swallowed and felt some tears coming to sting her eyes. “I ruined a perfectly fine day,” she admitted in a whisper. “Scorpius _is_ right, Alex really is brilliant, and I made him cry just because… just because…” She sniffled, and Mr Malfoy was quick to offer her a handkerchief all embroidered with blue flowers.

“Thank you,” she murmured, blowing her nose.

He gave her a small smile and nodded, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t urge her to continue nor asked anything else about the rows.

And it was probably exactly for that that she felt the urge to keep going.

“My dad,” she whispered. “My dad always said that Hugo and Lily were too young to understand what they were doing. They were only twenty-one when they left for Australia, after swearing that they would never come back, and I’ve always thought that he was right, that they were too young and that they didn’t know anything about life and love and how to raise a family.” She swallowed, and it hurt her throat. “But their son is just… he is so perfect, and he loves his parents so much…” She sniffled again, but blew her nose before she could shed any tear. “He said that Lily reads to him every night, that she worries when he goes in deep waters, that she teaches him a word a day… all things, all things that I would never think to do if I had a child. I would just feed them, change them and make them sleep, that’s all…”

“Rose, when a woman becomes a mother, she also becomes a new person,” he said gently. “When you have children, you’ll think about a gazillion of things that you ignored before.”

She cocked an eyebrow as she looked at him. “How do you even know?”

“I saw it happen to Astoria when she became a mother,” he said gently. “It was beautiful. One day she was fretting about what it would be like to have a son, and the next she seemed to know every secret of motherhood.”

Rose lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. She hoped fervently that it would be like that for her, too. Not that she had the desire to have children any time soon, she was only thirty, and she was not Lily. Of course, Scorpius was probably dying to become a parent, but he could wait a few more years, he could take care of Remus if he felt so inclined.

“Is everything ready for the funeral?” he asked softly. “Can I do anything?”

Rose looked at him and shook her head. “I… I think everything is almost ready,” she said. “I only have to go through the flower arrangement, the seating arrangement, the menu, the speeches, and the dress before Monday morning, but I can manage…”

“I hope you’re letting your family help you,” he said sternly. “They loved him as much as you did, Rose, you know that, right? They would be glad to help.”

“I’m letting them help,” she protested, “but Albus is being a subversive little piece of—”

“Ehm.”

Rose let out a groan. “A bit of a bother, really,” she gritted through her teeth.

“Well, you know Albus, don’t you?” sighed Mr Malfoy. “He really likes to pester you, Rose, and I know that the feeling is mutual.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “We probably would have already hexed each other into oblivion if it wasn’t for Scorpius.”

“Scorpius wants the big family that he’s never had,” said Mr Malfoy. “The one with enough cousins to make up two Quidditch teams at Easter and with enough aunts that you get more presents you know what to do with at Christmas.”

She couldn’t help smiling at the thought. “I know,” she whispered. “He likes my family more than I do.”

“That’s rubbish, Rose Weasley,” said Mr Malfoy kindly. “You love them dearly. Don’t you dare lie to me: I know you well.”

She looked at him and her lips curved slightly upwards in a sad smile. “I… I miss him, Mr Malfoy,” she whispered wretchedly. “I miss him so much, you have no idea.” She felt the tears coming to sting her eyes, but this time, she didn’t try to stop them.

“I know,” said Mr Malfoy gently. He stretched a hand and placed it lightly on her arm. “I know, Rose.”

***

Hugo stirred slowly, over the covers of his childhood bed, and let out a satisfied yawn. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get accustomed to the light in the room, and finally pushed the bedlinens away and propped himself up.

He had slept so well in the silence of the house where only he and his mother had spent the night. Not that he hadn’t slept well the night before, but Alex had clutched at him all through the night and when he hadn’t, he had stabbed his kidneys with his tiny, pointy toes.

But that night, Hugo had felt like he had gone back to his childhood.

He stretched his arms over his head and walked sleepily towards the bathroom. He took a nice, warm shower before finding a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and finally going downstairs.

His mother was already in the kitchen, already dressed in Wizarding robes, and was sipping her tea and reading attentively the Daily Prophet.

“Morning, Mum,” said Hugo, as he went to find himself a mug.

“Morning, Hugo,” she replied quietly. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, grinning as he poured some tea. “Don’t tell that to Lily, but I slept like a baby.”

He sat down next to her and she smiled. “I won’t,” she assured him. She waved her wand and a plate filled with sizzling bacon, soft scrambled eggs, and hot toasts covered in butter landed in front of him.

“Oh, thanks, Mum,” beamed Hugo. “You’re the best.”

She smiled again. “I’m just happy to see you, Hugo,” she admitted gently. “I can’t believe it’s been seven years since you were last here.”

He swallowed a piece of bacon with a bit of difficulty as he looked at his mother. “Mum,” he sighed, “you know why I couldn’t come before.”

His mother shook her head, lowering her eyes, which were suddenly filled with sadness.

Hugo felt a lump in his throat. He sipped some tea and tried to focus on his breakfast and on what to say next. He didn’t want to talk about his father. He was there for his funeral, but he had done an excellent job thinking as little as possible about him so far. Alex had kept him well busy, and so had done his cousins, always trying to avoid bringing up the subject unless he asked them to.

He chewed thoughtfully on a piece of toast and looked at his mother again, trying to smile gently at her. “So, what do you think about Alex and Liam?” he asked hopefully. “Do you like them?”

His mother, to his relief, smiled back at him. “Hugo, they are brilliant,” she said matter-of-factly. “And they seemed to have charmed everybody.”

Hugo let out an involuntary snort. “Except for Rose,” he muttered. “She told Alex that he was a Squib and that he wouldn’t go to Hogwarts.”

To Hugo disappointment, his mother didn’t look outraged at that piece of information. “Hugo,” she whispered. “I know. But believe me, please, when I say that she was really upset about it.”  

Hugo looked away from her. He would have lied to himself if he didn’t admit that she had looked different the night before. Less prone to poisonous attacks as she usually did, or outburst of rage or quick and sharp comebacks. She had looked quieter and she had said those words about him and Lily doing _a fine job_ with Alex. He had been more unsettled by them than he had shown that evening. He wasn’t used to Rose complimenting him. Not anymore.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t because of some guilty words from her part that he would have forgiven her.

He shook his head and snorted. “Yeah, well, next time she should think before she speaks,” he grunted, “especially to my son.”

His mother placed her cup on the table and when Hugo looked at her face, he saw that she was looking back at him with a pained expression. He bit his bottom lip and was ready to apologise to her about the mean words he had spoken against his sister. Anything not to let her talk about Rose as if she was a saint.

His mother spoke first, though, “You know what the problem is between you and Rose, don’t you, Hugo?”

He furrowed his brow, not wanting to analyse his relationship with his sister at that very moment. However, his mother was staring at him, wanting to do just that, apparently.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “she’s exactly like Dad.”

His mother’s lips seemed to curve upwards of a fraction of an inch. “Yes,” she replied to his surprise. “And so are you.”

Of all the things that she could say, that was probably one of the most hurtful ones. He snorted again and shook his head. “Wow, Mother,” he gritted through his teeth, “if you wanted to offend me, you might be pleased to know that—”

“Your dad,” she interrupted him, “was the most passionate man I’ve ever met.”

Hugo swallowed, unable to comment on that, but his mother looked like she hadn’t finished talking, so he didn’t say anything.

“When he loved someone,” she went on. “Merlin! When your dad loved someone, he would put all of himself into loving them. He would be mindless of other people just to show all the burning love that he felt for that someone.” She smiled as memories seemed to crowd in her head. “When you were five, all you wanted to do was to see and touch a unicorn, do you remember?”

Hugo nodded slightly. “I… Lily said that she wanted one for her birthday, I... I just had to do whatever she wanted to do…”

She nodded. “And your dad took you camping in Scotland for three days, without even telling me or your Uncle George or his own mother,” she said. “Just because you asked him, and because he loved you so much. I had a heart attack when I couldn’t find the two of you, naturally, and gave him a roasting when you came back, but you were so happy, and so was he.”

“Mum…”

“When your dad and I finally started dating,” she went on, “oh, God! He would come to Hogwarts every weekend and write ten letters a day. Your Aunt Ginny laughed at us, and in the end, I had to hide the letters away from her, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way with him.” She sighed. “But, bless him, he was like that with everything he did. If he hated someone, he would go to great lengths to always pick a fight with them; if he was angry with someone, he would not speak to them, not until they apologised first; if he was happy about something, the whole neighbourhood would hear his screams of joy.”

Hugo swallowed. He remembered. He remembered when his dad had stopped talking to Aunt Muriel because she had called Rose a little scarecrow when she was six. He remembered when he had ended up in St Mungo’s after having duelled with Uncle Bill over what present to get their mother for Christmas.

“And you and your sister,” she went on. “God, you two are exactly like him. Everything you do, you have to give all you have.”

“I’m not as impulsive as he was,” he protested. “I think before I do something.”

“Hugo,” she sighed. “You fought with him over your relationship with Lily, and in two days you had moved to Australia, never to be seen again.”

He swallowed and looked away. “I… he said… he said things, Mum, you remember, right?”

She nodded. “And you did, too, Hugo,” she reminded him.

“Well, yeah, but… Lily and I have been very happy there for the past seven years.”

“Don’t lie to me, Hugo,” she said suddenly rather stern, “because I know when you’re lying. Was Lily always happy there? Has she never asked to come back home? She hadn’t fought with her parents or her brothers, didn’t she miss them?”

“She used to cry every night for the first few months, and beg me to go home and make up with Dad and Rose, but I told her _she_ could go home whenever she wanted,” he grumbled.

“And why did you tell her that?” his mother pressed on. “Tell me the truth.”

“Why are you—”

“Hugo.”

“Because I knew that she would have never gone back without me,” he spat out. “Happy?”

“How much do you love her?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “So much that I think that my heart would explode if I didn’t see her every day of my life.”

“So much that you’d drag her all the way to Australia to live with you,” she clarified for him.

“She loves me back, you know?” he said hotly. “She wanted to be with me.”

“I have no doubt that she does,” replied his mother, “but that moment when you went to her and asked her to leave with you, to leave her life behind, her job, her family, her friends, just to be with you on the other side of the world, where everything was unfamiliar, just because you had a fight with your dad and your sister, that moment there… your passion and your love for her was burning all your other abilities to think straight and do what is right.” She looked pointedly at him. “Just like your dad used to do all the time. Just like Rose does.”

“What are you saying? That I’m a slave to my emotions?” he snorted.

“Yes,” she replied calmly.

He shook his head. He was not like his father. He was not. He would never talk to Liam and Alex like he had talked to him.

“He cried, you know?” she added softly. “The night you left, without even saying goodbye. He went into the garden and cried and cursed and kicked my pots of geraniums.” She swallowed. “He regretted every single word he had said to you and Lily.”

“I… I regretted them, too…”

She nodded. “It took him two years to be back on speaking terms with your Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny,” she said, “but their relationship was never quite the same.” She looked out of the window to the crisp morning. “He wrote to you.”

“I never received anything,” said Hugo quietly.

“I know. He never sent it,” she admitted. “He never destroyed it either, though.” She fished an envelope out of her pocket and placed it on the table. “But he would have wanted you to have it in the end.”

Hugo stared at the envelope without moving a muscle. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t find anything intelligent to comment, so he just closed it again. He placed his hand on the envelope and closed his eyes, letting what his mother had told him sink into his brain.

***

When Rose walked into her kitchen, Scorpius was busy making breakfast, an activity that he enjoyed immensely. He kept lamenting how he had never been able to do that when he was younger, that at the Manor all you had to do was snap your fingers for house elves to appear with everything your heart desired, and both Rose and Albus kept mocking him for the “terrible childhood he had had”, leaving him always a bit flustered and apologetic.

She tiptoed to him and slid her arms around his waist, leaning her head between his shoulder blades.

He started, jumped, cursed, stiffened his back and muttered, “Blood. Blood. There’s blood all over our mushrooms. Blood. Lots of it…” His voice becoming smaller and smaller with every word.

Rose had to bite back a laugh, she pointed her wand over his shoulder and murmured a Healing Charm and then a Cleaning Spell, and gradually could feel Scorpius’ muscles relax a little.

“Thanks,” he croaked out.

“Tell me the truth, Scorpius,” she whispered against his back. “Are you with me because you want babies?”

He tried to turn on the spot to face her, but she didn’t let him, hugging him with all her force to keep him turned the other way. “What?” he asked, placing his hands over hers. “What are you on about?”

“You want lots and lots of children,” she said slowly. “Are you with me because the other love of your life wouldn’t be able to give you that?”

His back shook slightly, as if he was trying to restrain a laughter. “No, I’m with you because, believe it or not, you’re far less annoying than Albus,” he said. “And if you tell him, I’ll have to kill you, you know that, right?”

She didn’t reply, but leant all her weight against him.

“Hey, what… what prompted that?” he asked after some long moments of silence.

“Tell me about Liam,” she whispered. “Is he as cute as Alex?”

Scorpius’ fingers ran gently over her arms. “He’s four, Rose, he’s even cuter,” he said seriously. “And he talks a lot, like Alex, and he’s even less shy than his brother, so you can imagine how he was after only a few minutes with his family…”

“And Lily?”

Scorpius stiffened slightly, fully aware that that was not a normal conversation between the two of them. “She’s huge,” he admitted. “Just her middle, but she’s huge, like… like she has a gigantic watermelon under her dress. She’s almost at the end, I think she said something about being due in mid-September. I think your uncle and aunt are plotting something to prevent her from going back to Australia. At least until she’s had the baby, they said it was dangerous to get a plane now.”

Rose took a deep breath. “Did she look happy?”

Scorpius let out a cheerful laugh. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Yeah, she did.” He stretched a hand towards a box of cereals near the hobs and turned it around. “They look a bit like this,” he added, pointing at the happy family having breakfast on the back of the box.

Rose peered over his shoulder for the shortest moment before releasing him.

He turned at once. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern.

She nodded and hugged herself, shivering slightly as she looked out of the window to the frost-covered backyard. “Do you think… do you think my dad would have liked to… to see them?”

“Oh, Rose,” he murmured softly.

“No, but he was gone without even ever meeting his grandsons, and you know how much he liked children,” she said, her voice caught in her throat. “And I think he would have been the best grandpa ever. I think he would have covered them with presents and loved them mightily, until I was all jealous of the attention that they got from my dad, but then I would love them, too, and it would be alright because I want to cover them with presents, too, but I have never even seen Liam and I feel like I think I love him already, and I really miss Lily so much and Hugo, too, but every time we talk it ends badly and I just can’t… it’s so tiring and I just can’t…”

When her voice broke off, Scorpius enveloped her in an embrace. She hadn’t even seen him move behind her teary eyes. Everything was a blur, now, only his cheek against her head and his arms holding her so steadily.

“I miss him,” she sobbed. “I miss him… miss him so much…”

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I know, Rose. I know.”

She sagged completely against him, and for the first time since her dad had died, she cried and let someone comfort her.

***

Hugo stepped out of the fireplace and into the living room of Grimmauld Place, shaking Floo Powder from his curls and his shoulders. He took a deep breath and closed his hand around the still sealed envelope that his mother had given him.

He wanted to open it, but didn’t want to do it alone. He needed Lily, after all, if his father had written some sort of apology for him it must have been addressed to her as well.

He walked slowly towards the kitchen, where a messy ensemble of voices could be heard, and peered inside at the scene of domestic bliss before him. Aunt Ginny was cooking with magic and multiple big pots were bubbling on the hobs; Remus, Liam and Alex were running around the table while James was chasing them, they were all laughing and screaming and panting with exertion. Uncle Harry and Albus were trying to help the children escape James by slowing him down with chairs on his path, only causing even more hilarity in the children. Weirdly enough, Lily was not there, exactly where he thought she would be.

He stepped inside and when his children finally saw him, their flushed faces split into even bigger grins and, with screams of “Daddy!”, they ran to him. He opened his arms wide and Liam literally jumped at his neck, delighting as his dad hoisted him up on his hip and kissed him profusely.

“Daddy!” he exclaimed gleefully. “You know that Mummy almost had Emma?”

The kitchen was suddenly plunged into a very deep silence, even the pots that Aunt Ginny was looking after seemed to be holding their breath as Hugo made sense of his words. He blinked at him, and when he turned to look at the rest of the family, he saw that everybody was looking back at him with wide eyes and a horrified expression over their face.

“What?” he asked dumbly.

Albus was the first one to say something, but he wasn’t talking to Hugo. “Liam!” he chastised half-heartedly. “Remember? We talked about this. What did we say about what happened this morning?”

Liam’s face scrunched up as he thought about it. “That it was a secret!” he replied.

“Yes,” went on Albus, “and that we shouldn’t have said it to Daddy.”

“But Mummy says that we should never ever ever keep secrets from Mummy and Daddy,” he replied dutifully. “That otherwise we grow a tail and monkey ears!”

Albus took a deep breath. “Yes, but some secrets you can keep from Daddy,” he explained. “Like this one, for example. Remember? We didn’t want Daddy to worry.”

Hugo felt a sudden anger boil up at the pit of his stomach. He hoisted Liam even higher and glared at Albus. “Back off, Albus,” he growled. “What happened and where’s Lily?”

“Nothing happened,” said James kindly. “She had a fainting spell this morning before breakfast and was having some sort of contractions-like pains, but apparently they were not contractions after all.”

“Yeah, we called Dominique and she said that it was just some cramps due to the tiredness, the journey, the jet-leg and the fact that she had kept crying and laughing all the time,” went on Albus. “She didn’t even have to take her to St Mungo’s. Just told her to eat something and go back to bed.”

“But she said she didn’t want to sleep,” said Uncle Harry, “so she’s in the drawing room, enjoying some peace and quiet while she’s reading the Prophet.” He smiled at Hugo. “She’s fine. Of course, she gave us a heart attack, but she’s fine, now.”

“Yes,” said Aunt Ginny, brandishing a wooden spoon as she looked at Hugo with narrowed eyes. “But I swear to Merlin that if you allow her on a plane again before that child is born, I’ll drag you all the way to Romania only to ask your Uncle Charlie to feed you to his dragons.”

“Not that we aren’t happy that she’s here,” Uncle Harry hurried to add. “Just that it wasn’t ideal that she’d travelled such a long way so close to her due date.”

“I know,” replied Hugo darkly. “I told her not to come, but she wouldn’t have any of it.” He kissed Liam’s head and placed him back on the floor.

“Are you worried, Daddy?” asked Alex. “Because Mummy didn’t want to tell you because you’d worry…”

“Alex!” sighed Albus.

Hugo took a deep breath. “I’m not worried,” he lied, kneeling to look at him in the eyes. “Mummy is fine and she’s resting. Daddy is going to say hi to her, okay? You stay here and keep an eye on your brother, okay?”

Alex nodded seriously, he hugged Hugo’s neck and then bolted to go to his Uncle James again, asking him for more chasing.

Hugo stood up and stepped towards the stairs, but Albus intercepted him. He grabbed his arm and made him turn to look at him. “Hey,” he whispered not to let the children hear him. “She’s fine, I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true, you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. He gave him a small smile and finally started to make his way towards the first floor. He could hear the voices coming from downstairs becoming more and more weak as he climbed up the stairs. The drawing room was right between Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny’s room and the main bathroom, it was big and well-lit by the gigantic window that overlooked the garden.

Lily was seated on one of the sofas, her legs stretched and hidden underneath a blanket. She was looking at the Prophet with concentration and scribbling down every now and then on it. She was probably doing the Magical Symbols game.

He cleared his throat as he stepped in, and she raised her eyes only to beam at him.

“Hi, stranger,” she said sweetly as he came to sit on the coffee table next to the sofa. “How are you?”

He smiled back at her as he placed his hand on her stomach. Emma gave a tiny kick and he felt his muscles relax. “I’m well, thank you,” he replied, drawing circles on her belly with his thumb. “You?”

“Good,” she replied cheerfully. “Just having a bit of relaxing alone time.”

He nodded. “You must be dead tired.”

“Yeah, the journey, the jet-lag, seeing the family, thinking about your dad, looking after—”

“Almost having a delivery.”

She stopped dead as she looked at him. Then she closed her eyes for a second and shook her head tiredly. “I’m going to kill James.”

“It was Liam.”

“Sneak,” she sighed.

“You taught him not to keep secrets from Daddy.”

She offered him a tired smile. “I sent my brothers into quite the state,” she confessed. “They were crying and babbling some weird stuff.”

“Not much difference from every other day, then.”

She cackled at that.

“I told you you shouldn’t have come.”

“Ugh. That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell you,” she muttered. “I am fine, Hugo, I swear. I was just tired, and I mistook some cramps for contractions. They were painful as hell, though.” She shook her head to send away that thought. “I just needed some rest, that’s all.”

He looked severely at her, but when she smiled gently and covered his hand on her stomach with hers, he softened.

“I’m fine, she’s fine,” she whispered. “And we’re both so, so happy to be here.”

“I’m happy, too,” he admitted, thinking about the letter. He perched on the coffee table and kissed her briefly before sitting back on it. “And the other reasons?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“We didn’t want you to worry,” she said gently.

“We?”

“Yes, we. My brothers, my parents and even your eldest son are all my accomplices,” she grinned.

He snorted at that. “Liam is getting an extra big present this Christmas.”

“Funny you should mention Christmas,” she said, her grin now impossibly wide. “Because that’s what Uncle James was talking about this morning…”

Hugo furrowed his brow, but waited for her to elaborate.

“He was telling Alex and Liam about Christmas at the Burrow,” she went on, “with snow, piles of presents, games, so much food they could explode, so many people that you can’t have a proper conversation, but only shout words here and there, Celestina Warbeck’s music… They were ecstatic.”

“Because of Celestina Warbeck’s music?”

“Hugo…”

“I know,” he said softly. “I miss it, too, Lily.”

She offered him a smile which was tinged with sadness, but her grin widened as he stood up from the table and came to sit next to her on the sofa. She raised her back a little, and he slid an arm behind her shoulder blades. He drew her to him and kissed the side of her head. “I’m sorry I took you away from everything and everyone,” he whispered against her hair.

“You didn’t,” she reassured him quietly, playing with his fingers on her stomach. “I came with you because I love you and I want to be with you. Even if you are on the other side of the world.”

He leant his head on hers, his hand pushing deep in his pocket and closing around the letter. “Lily,” he whispered. “I… I need to ask you something.”

She didn’t reply, she waited for him to keep talking.

He finally fished out the letter. “My mum gave me this, this morning,” he said, his voice hoarse as he passed it to her. “I… my dad wrote it. It was for me. Probably for us. I just… I don’t want to read it alone.”

She pushed herself up a bit and turned to look at him. “Uncle Ron wrote it?” she asked tightly. “For you?”

“Yeah,” he replied as her big, brown eyes searched his face for any kind of emotion. “I… She… she said he was sorry.” He sniffled slightly and was surprised to find his throat suddenly closing around a big lump.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say. Then her eyes filled suddenly with tears and she lay down again, this time leaning her head against his chest as she hugged him tightly. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice broken. “Yes, I’ll stay here with you while you read it.”

He swallowed. “No, I… Can you… can you read it first?”

She pushed herself back up again; this time her eyelashes were covered in tiny, shiny tears, but her eyes were severe as she looked at him. “No!” she said tersely. “It’s for you, you should read it first.”

“I don’t want to,” he admitted quietly. “I don’t want to read it.”

She looked mollified by his tone and probably his face, but she didn’t cave in. “I can’t read it for you, Hugo,” she whispered. “It’s for you.”

“I bet it’s for you, too,” he said petulantly.

“Hugo,” she said, laying down again, “I love you more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for you, but that letter is for you. From your dad.”

“Lily…”

“Don’t read it, now,” she said. “Read it when you’re ready to read it.”

He swallowed, it was a comforting thought that he didn’t have to open it now and read it and see what his dad had wanted to tell him that he couldn’t while he was alive. He hadn’t thought about waiting. He liked that idea, though.

He pocketed the letter again and turned a bit on the sofa, until he was facing Lily and hugging her to his chest. “Have I ever said that I’m so glad you exist?”

“Couple of times,” she mumbled against him. “Both times I had just delivered a red-headed screaming baby.”

“Here you go,” he said, “third time. Fourth in a few weeks when you deliver another baby.”

“I’ll count on that,” she giggled. “Hey, by the way, I’m properly starving.”

“Good thing your mum is cooking a feast, then.”

“Hmm… don’t be fooled by the size of those pots,” she warned him. “She’s invited at least twenty people for lunch.”

“Great,” he sighed. “When are we going back home?”

“Hugo!” she giggled.

“I know, I’m joking,” he chuckled as he kissed her head. “We are home anyway…”

She hugged him a bit more forcefully at that to let him know that she agreed.

***

When Albus walked into the reception room, Rose was not surprised in the least to see his befuddled face. She didn’t even have to glance up from the flowers she was helping Mr Toots arrange in the china vase – the one that would have been placed near her father’s coffin – to know that her cousin was walking towards Scorpius to whisper his bewilderment.

“I re-hired him,” she said aloud.

There was a moment of silence, but Rose didn’t take her eyes away from the lilies she was placing between the roses.

“Are you…” murmured Albus as he stepped towards her. “Are you… hmm… okay, Rose?”

She closed her eyes for a moment before standing up and turning to look at him. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

Scorpius beat her to it.

“She’s fine, Albus,” he said calmly. “She’s decided on the chair arrangement and finished changing her speech.”

“That’s because you stole it from me, and placed it somewhere where I couldn’t even Summon it from,” pointed out Rose, but Albus seemed to be surprised at the complete lack of hostility in her voice.

Scorpius smiled at her. “Yes, I’ll take credit for that.”

“I’m blaming you, not giving you credit.”

“Are these…” said Albus, looking at the flowers and interrupting their banter. “Are these lilies?”

Rose bit her bottom lip, she glanced at Scorpius, who smiled encouragingly at her, but she really felt like she didn’t want to explain herself to Albus. She knew he would have just scoffed at her or taken the micky. “Yeah,” she replied, giving him her back and levitating some small vases around the room.

“Why are you putting lilies with the roses? I thought… I thought you didn’t want lilies.”

“My dad liked lilies,” she said curtly. “It was his second favourite flower.”

Albus took a moment to comment on that, but Rose could feel his eyes on the back of her head all along. “Your dad had favourite flowers?”

“Albus,” said Scorpius gently, but firmly. “Why don’t you help me take the pictures to Creevey’s to duplicate and blow up?”

She didn’t look up when there was silence again. Albus was probably gesticulating something to Scorpius, and he was probably raising his pale eyebrows to make him get out of there.

“Hum,” said Albus in the end. “Alright, I’ll see you later, Rose.”

Rose hummed back in reply and then a light kiss was planted on the top of her head by Scorpius and the two men walked out whispering things to each other.

“I think, Miss Weasley,” said Mr Toots, his round face all red with exertion, “that those lilies and those roses compliments each other very well.”

She looked at the flowers as well and flushed slightly. “Thank you,” she murmured unsurely. “I think that, too.”

***

Hugo had spent a very nice lunch. Aunt Ginny had invited more than twenty people, in the end, either relatives and friends. She had wanted to show off Lily and Liam and Alex, and everybody had been quite happy to meet them or see them again. Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur, who had been rather torn between rejoicing that Lily and Hugo were there and keeping on mourning their youngest son’s death, kept crying for everything that anybody said. Whether it was something cheerful or something sad.

Lunch had extended well into the afternoon, and Alex and Liam had been even more excited when Remus had commented that it felt a bit like Christmas at the Burrow did. They had started pleading their parents to have Christmas at the Burrow that year, even though they had never even seen the Burrow before and probably didn’t even know what they were talking about.

“We’ll see, boys,” replied Hugo gently. “Emma is going to be really tiny at Christmas. She can’t just travel all over the place.”

“But can’t we stay here, Daddy?” asked Alex. “Only until Christmas. Then we can go home when Emma is big enough.”

Hugo chuckled softly, but when he looked up from him and at Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, they were looking back at him with eyes filled with hope that he would agree to their request.

“The boys are right, there’s a huge flaw in your plan, I’m afraid, Hugo,” said his mother calmly. “Lily can’t travel back now, not after this morning, at least, and once Emma is born, you said it yourself, she won’t be able to take such a long journey.” She didn’t even try to suppress her smile. “I’m afraid the wisest solution would be to really stay until Christmas.”

“Yes, Hermione!” exclaimed Uncle Harry. “Thank you for being so clever. I agree, I agree to everything she says.”

“I agree, too,” said Aunt Ginny promptly. “You can’t go back to Australia.”

Hugo rolled his eyes not so subtly. “Glad to hear that you lot think we don’t have jobs or lives back at home,” he said, standing up. “I only took ten days off, but I have to be back next Monday.” He looked down at his children, who looked like two stray puppies. “And you both have school, am I right?”

Alex nodded demurely, but Liam didn’t seem too abashed. “But Remus goes to school, too, Daddy!” he exclaimed. “And he goes here. And everybody is magic at his school, and his daddy never has to go to school when he does magic.”

“What? You send your kids to a Muggle school?” asked James, eyes wide. “Why?”

Hugo felt himself become rather annoyed as his family pressured him on explaining his life choices. He was right about to snap back at them to mind their own business and storm out of there, when Lily’s warm hand sneaked on his leg and she replied for him.

“We didn’t know if they had magic or not,” she said calmly. “There’s a high possibility for children born of two people who are related by blood to be Squibs. The school is a very good one and we picked it before we knew that they are both wizards.” She drew soothing circles on his thigh and he was relieved that she was there.

“Yeah,” Hugo added hoarsely. “They’ll go to Thundelarra without a doubt, but for now they are happy there.”

Lily’s hand squeezed his legs involuntarily as he said the name of the Australian school and he suddenly wished he had kept his mouth shut.

“You mean Hogwarts,” said Aunt Ginny tersely. “They are British.”

“And Australian,” he replied curtly.

“Yes, but you… you can’t,” said James. “I mean, it’d be nice to have them at Hogwarts.”

Hugo shook his head. “You wouldn’t even see them, James,” he snorted. “Remember? It’s a boarding school.”

Polly turned to look at James, cocking an eyebrow in encouragement.

He looked back at her and smiled slightly before looking at Hugo. “Yeah, I… I was thinking about applying for the DADA position next year…”

“Oh, James!” exclaimed Lily eagerly, while everybody else smiled. “That would be so nice! You would teach them at school. That… that would be… That would be…” Her voice trailed away when she felt Hugo’s muscles stiffen under her hand.

Hugo glanced at his kids, they both had eyes as big as Galleons, probably trying to understand what was going on and what everything that the adults were saying had to do with them, but they didn’t seem able to grasp what everything meant, luckily.

Hugo glared at James. “Great, congratulations. Well, we’ll see,” he replied gruffly.

“Maybe you should ask your children what they want to do,” said Aunt Ginny sternly. “It’s their choice, after all.”

“Since when?” snorted Hugo. “I don’t think any of us was asked to choose between Hogwarts or any other school.”

Victoire cleared her throat. “Yeah, right…” she said calmly. “Since I was six, half of my family was trying to convince me to go to Hogwarts and the other half to Beauxbatons. And the same goes for Dominique and Louis.”

“Hogwarts 3 – Beauxbatons 0,” cackled James.

Everybody, except for Hugo and Lily laughed at that.

He moved his leg from under her touch and she turned slightly towards him. “Hugo,” she pleaded.

“I don’t want to talk about this, now,” he said way more harshly than he had intended. “I… I don’t. We still have years before they have to go to school.”

While everybody else kept talking about how amazing would it be for their children to go to Hogwarts, Lily cupped his cheeks and made him turn towards her, an anxious expression over her face. “I know,” she said urgently. “I know, we were just talking.”

He swallowed, suddenly feeling very guilty. “I know,” he assured her. He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner and added, “I have to go. I am meeting Dominique at four. I’ll see you this evening, okay?”

She offered him a small smile. “I really want to come with you,” she admitted.

He shook his head. “Stay here and relax,” he said. “I’ll be back soon.” He pecked her lips quickly and stood up, but nobody noticed that he was going, and he didn’t say anything, and thankfully Lily didn’t either.

***

Rose had her father’s clothes folded neatly in her lap. She was staring at the dark robes and smoothing them under her palms every ten seconds.  Three days before she had asked the staff at St Mungo’s – and obtained, but not without effort and only with Dominique’s intercession – to be the one to dress her father’s body for the funeral. She had thought it to be a simple enough process, with magic, naturally, and hadn’t wished for anybody else to touch him.

She knew that the Healers had conducted tests and examinations on him to determine with precision what exactly had killed him, but she didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to be the last one to see her father before he was buried, too, because they would definitely not have an open coffin at the funeral. Not with all the children around.

But now that she was sitting right next to the coffin in the mortuary where her father had been laid in, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wished Scorpius was there with her, but she was the one who had told him that she wanted to do it alone, and he had respected that, good boy that he was.

So now she was in there, trying hard, without even knowing why, to restrain the tears and find the courage to do it as soon as possible and get home.

She was so focused on the task that she had to perform that she started when the door of the mortuary opened. Dominique had told her to take all the time she needed, there was no hurry at all, so she was puzzled and a little bit annoyed that she was being interrupted in such a moment.

Her surprise was even greater when she saw that the person who was disturbing her was not a Healer, nor someone from the Funeral Parlour.

Hugo stepped in there, closed the door at his back, and only once he’d taken an uncertain step towards the coffin, he finally noticed her. She was surprised to notice that he was as puzzled as she was.

He looked at her and his blue eyes opened impossibly wide. “What are you doing here?” he blurted out, probably without even thinking.

She swallowed and looked away from him. “I’m here to dress Dad,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

It took him a long moment to reply, but she didn’t look up at him. “I’m here to see him.”

She nodded, but kept her eyes on the robes on her lap. She didn’t look at up and waited for him to move closer to the coffin. He didn’t.

“I’ll come back later,” he finally said. “I… Dominique didn’t tell me that you were here.”

She glanced up at his hardened face. “You don’t have to,” she said, standing up. “I’ll go. I’ll come back when you’ve finished.”

“No, I can come back tomorrow.”

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. “No, it’s fine, I need some fresh air anyway.”

“God, Rose, you can never do as you’re told, can you?” he said nervously. “I said it’s fine if I come back tomorrow, let it go.”

She felt her jaw slacken in surprise. “What’s your problem?” she muttered. “I didn’t say anything this time and you just jumped down my throat. I was trying to be nice.”

He looked suddenly very sorry, and Rose both rejoiced and felt guilt ridden at the same time. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, flushing slightly. “I’ll come back later.”

She snorted aloud. “If you wait another seven years, he’s not going to be here anymore,” she said. “We’re burying him in two days.”

He stopped abruptly on his way to the door and turned to look at her, his eyes suddenly wide and wild. “What?” he murmured, his voice a low, dangerous whisper. “Do you think I had a choice when I left?”

She shook her head. “What do you think?” she hissed. “Of course, you did.”

“You and your father called us _inconsiderate freaks_ ,” he growled, “and I still remember your tone of voice and your face when you said it. In front of Lily.”

Rose pressed her lips together. “You and Lily dropped that bomb on us and when it took us more than two seconds to react in any way, you told us that you hated us all,” she retorted. “Mum was crushed, Dad and I were furious. I didn’t… we weren’t even thinking.”

“Yes, you were,” he said hotly. “You were pretty adamant to let us know what you thought about us. We weren’t welcome in our family anymore, end of story.”

“Rubbish,” she snapped. “And you know it. We’d fought before, it was all just the spur of the moment. We always… always did say things that we didn’t really think. And you do, too. All the time.” She snorted and looked away. “I don’t know how a kind soul like Lily can put up with you all the time.”

“Leave her out of this,” he growled.

“No, I won’t,” she retorted. “You two just left. You had kids, never even come back, never even considered writing to let us know that Lily was pregnant the first, second or third time, you got married and didn’t invite anyone, you didn’t even… you didn’t even write when—”

She was interrupted by Hugo’s boisterous laughter. “You’re not serious, are you?” he said. “I don’t know who your informant is, but Lily and I are not married.” His stare hardened. “I tried to ask her to marry me countless of times, but she said she only wanted to marry me back in England. At the Burrow. With _you_ as her maid of honour.” He laughed again, bitterly this time. “I guess we’ll never get married after all.”

Rose was reduced to a stunned silence at that piece of information. Nobody had told her that they were married, nobody had told her the contrary as well. But lately when her mother talked about Hugo to someone, she always said that “him and his wife” lived in Australia and had two children. She had taken for granted that they had gotten married at some point.

“I… I didn’t…”

“I know,” he hissed. “Do me a favour, next time, just don’t say anything, okay?” He turned towards the door, but stopped short of opening it. “Especially not to Lily,” he added before finally pushing the handle down.

“I regretted everything I said,” she said urgently. “Every bloody word. I wished I had really kept quiet that night. But you know how difficult it is when you are standing there, challenging us to say something, to give vent to our feelings and fight with you.” She swallowed as he tensed. “Because don’t say that you weren’t there to fight, that night, Hugo, don’t say that.”

He bit down hard on his bottom lip and shook his head, but he didn’t seem able to find anything to reply to her.

“I missed you,” she said, her voice catching. “I did, and Lily. I missed her, too. And Dad missed you, too, you know?” She sniffled loudly. “Two months after you left, at Grandma’s birthday party, James had had a bit too much Firewhisky and he was… he was badmouthing you for taking Lily away.” She sniffled again at the thought. “Dad almost hexed him. I swear to Merlin, ask whoever you want. He almost hexed him, and he said that if he wanted to blame someone, to blame him. Because it was all his fault.” She sniffled again. “Ask Mum, if you don’t believe me, or Aunt Ginny. Ask Victoire and Teddy. Don’t ask Grandma, because we didn’t tell her. But anybody else… Ask them.”

He shook his head again, he closed his eyes and then pushed the door open and disappeared outside, leaving Rose there alone to come to terms with what she had just told him.

***

It was bloody cold for being September. Or it wasn’t, really, it was just that Hugo wasn’t used to the British weather anymore. Back in Australia, it would be sweltering, but now he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore as he sat in the garden.  

There were still people inside Grimmauld Place. More people than the ones who either lived there or would sleep there for the night. Hugo didn’t want to go in and see everybody all over again, but he had promised Lily that he would see her that night, and he wanted to say goodnight to Liam and Alex and Emma. And he had to wait for his mother to come home before he could actually get into her house.

His plan had been to wait until all the people that had to go home would go before he went inside. Even if his fingers fell off for the cold. He probably deserved that for the way he had behaved that day.

He tried to think intensely of Lily, and hoped that he could let her know that he was outside and to let him in through the back door, but he knew that he was being an idiot. Like he had been all day long.

He took a deep breath, then the door at his back opened and someone walked outside after having closed it at their back. He held his breath, thinking that after all he was not that idiotic if that was really Lily and she had heard him in her head.

Someone tapped a bottle of Butterbeer on his shoulder, though, and when he turned to have a look at the person who was offering the drink to him, he was rather surprised to see James standing there.

“Figured you didn’t want to come in,” he said simply, taking a sip from his own bottle. “Don’t worry, it’s nice and warm.”

Hugo took the Butterbeer that he was offering to him and nodded. “Cheers, James,” he said quietly.

James nodded back, and sat on the steps next to him. “I saw you from the window,” he said. “You’ve been here an awful long time.”

Hugo took a sip of the warm, sweet Butterbeer. “I didn’t want to come in and spoil everybody’s fun,” he admitted. “I’m sorry for today. I… I was being an arse.”

“Nah, don’t worry.”

“No, I was,” he pressed. “I saw Rose today and I was an arse to her, too, even when she was being… _civil_.”

“That doesn’t sound like our Rose at all,” he said cheerfully. “Are you sure that was her?”

“No, I’m serious, James,” went on Hugo bitterly. “She was being considerate and nice and apologetic and I just… I was being a bloody idiot. We had another fight and it was all my fault this time.”

“Hey,” said James seriously. “Stop it, okay? Your father just died, you’re allowed to be an idiot and an arse, okay?”

“Her father just died, too,” he replied curtly. He took another gulp of Butterbeer and looked at the dark garden in front of them. “I… when I got the letter from my mum the other day, _that_ letter, I… I couldn’t even shed a tear. I didn’t even know what I was feeling.”

James swallowed, probably trying to find something comforting to say to him.

“When I told Lily, she started crying her eyes out,” Hugo went on. “She was inconsolable. I… I didn’t even know how to comfort her.”

“She’s pregnant, mate,” said James with a chuckle. “I’m no expert, but after Vicky and Roxy, I can tell you that those hormones really mess them up big time.” He bumped his shoulder against Hugo’s and added, “Lily was crying when Polly showed her a picture of her little brother, and then again when Remus fell off his toy broom.” He snorted. “Remus didn’t even cry, he didn’t even hurt himself, but Lily just hugged the daylight out of him and cried like he had died.”

Hugo turned to look at James, who was looking rather amused. “You missed her,” he said to his cousin.

James shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “Only so fucking much,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“I’m sorry I took her away from all of you,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t even write to let you know that she was pregnant again. She asked me to, but then you’d write to her how much you missed her and how much you wanted her to come home and she would just be so unhappy.” Hugo sighed. “We missed you, too, you know? All of you.”

James didn’t reply. He just took another gulp of Butterbeer.

“I’m sorry for today,” went on Hugo softly. “I’m sure you’ll be a bloody good teacher and Alex and Liam would be lucky to have you teaching them.”

James shook his head. “Hogwarts is not a big deal, you know?” he said gently. “I’m sure that they’re going to be just fine in Australia.”

“They’ll choose where they want to go,” he admitted. “And Lily has been telling them all about Hogwarts ever since they’d done magic; they can’t wait to go there.”

“And you’d let your kids go to school on the other side of the world?” asked James, glancing at him askew.

Hugo shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe we’ll move back here,” he confessed. “I don’t know, don’t tell Lily, but maybe one day we can come back.” He snorted and looked at James. “It is bloody cold here, though,” he went on. “In Australia, we would be having ice-cream right now and having difficulties cooling down.”

“That’s wicked,” said James cheerfully. “Maybe we can come and visit you before you move back here.”

Hugo smiled in his Butterbeer at the thought. “Maybe that’d be cool,” he whispered.

***

When Scorpius found her, all curled up in a tight ball on the sofa, eyes red and cheeks flushed, he didn’t even ask what had happened. He must have known that she had met Hugo. He just moved her feet gently to the side and sat there next to her. He waited for her to go to him, with a very gently pressed hand on her calf, and when she did, he hugged her tightly to his chest and let her cry against him.

***

Hugo kissed both Alex and Liam goodnight. They looked sleepy and comfy under the duvet in Lily’s old bedroom. They even forgot to ask their mummy for a story that evening, and instead they gently dozed off in each other’s arms.

He smiled as he looked at them, their breathing evening out, their eyelashes resting on their cheeks, their limbs suddenly going very, very still. He couldn’t resist giving them another kiss before he stood up and walked to the door.

Lily was slowly climbing up the stairs when he closed the door at his back. He hurried to her side to help her up the last few steps.

She smiled gratefully at him. “Are they sleeping?” she whispered when she reached the landing.

“Yeah, they were knackered,” he replied. “Didn’t even ask for a story.”

“Well, not from you,” giggled Lily. “Daddy can’t do the voices.”

He smiled to humour her, but when he spoke again he was very serious. “I think,” he said, “that having James teaching them would be swell.”

Lily closed her eyes, then closed the gap between the two of them as well as she could with her belly in the way. “We don’t have to talk about it now,” she said reassuringly. “We still have ages.”

“Four years and a half,” he reminded her. “That’s not ages.”

“Well, how about we talk about it tomorrow and not tonight?” she yawned. “I’m knackered, too.”

He smiled as he leant his head over hers. “Yeah, sorry. And sorry for earlier, I was… I was being an idiot.”

“It’s alright,” she replied quietly, finally detaching herself from him. “Hey, what time will I see you tomorrow?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” he said thoughtfully. “Shall I come for breakfast? We can spend the morning together, with the boys, maybe we can take them—”

“Nah,” said Lily, waving a hand. “Come for lunch. Spend some time with Aunt Hermione.”

He furrowed his brow slightly at her quick reply. “You sure?” he asked, feeling suddenly a bit rejected.

“Yes, you haven’t seen her in seven years,” she said forcefully. “She missed you like crazy.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right. You always are.”

She smiled and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. “And don’t you forget it,” she said against his lips.

“Do I ever?” he grinned as she walked into her room.

She turned, stuck out her tongue to him and then blew him a kiss, before disappearing inside.

He smiled at the door as it closed, then sighed and finally turned away and made his way towards the fireplace in the living room.

***

Rose narrowed her eyes as she stared at Scorpius. He had the _Daily Prophet_ open in front of him on the kitchen table, and his breakfast that he had made with all his love half-untouched next to it. He kept fidgeting nervously and peering in turn at the door, the fireplace and the window, as if he was expecting something to happen. Or someone to arrive.

“Are you okay?” asked Rose suspiciously. “You look nervous.”

He looked at her, his grey eyes wide and slightly scared. “I’m perfect,” he rushed to say. “Absolutely perfect. Why would you say that?”

“Scorpius…”

“So, is everything ready for tomorrow?”

“Scorpius.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Scorpius, what have you _already_ done?”

He smiled nervously. “Who? Me? Nothing? I mean, nothing! Why would you think that I’ve done something when it’s clear as day that I haven’t done absolutely anything at all because I haven’t even talked to anybody, nor have I been anywhere, nor have I done anything that you wouldn’t want me to do.”

His rant was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Please, remember that you love me, though,” he added as he jumped up. “And that I love you back just as much if not more.”

She gaped at him as he hurried to open the door. She stood up, too, knotting her nightgown more tightly about her waist as she followed him with her gaze. She was confused and frustrated not to know what he had done and who was knocking on their door at eight in the morning of a Sunday the day before her father’s funeral.

But when Albus walked into her kitchen and nodded at her, she felt herself fill with disappointment.

“Hey,” said Albus quietly. “You okay?”

She took a deep breath. “Yes,” she replied, sitting down at the table again. “You? Come to eat breakfast uninvited again?”

“Not stopping,” he replied calmly, he turned towards the door and smiled as someone else walked in after him.

Rose’s heart skipped a beat as she lay her eyes on Lily’s beautiful and anxious face. She walked in there, with her gigantic belly and Scorpius hot on her heels, and stood right next to Albus, looking fragile and almost scared to be there.

Well, Rose felt just like that, too.

“Hi,” said Lily quietly.

Rose opened her mouth, but her voice was unrecognisable even to her. “Hi,” she replied.

Then nothing. They just stood there, looking at each other and both trying to gather the courage to keep going.

“Well,” said Scorpius after a few uncomfortable moments. “Albus and I are going to do that thing, right Albus?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “We’ll see you in a bit, okay, ladies? Try not to tear the house down, okay?”

Rose shot him a glare, while Lily barely acknowledged him as he kissed her temple and walked out. They were both gone before anybody else could say anything, and once the door closed at their backs, Lily seemed to find the courage to speak.

“Hugo doesn’t know I’m here,” she said urgently. “But I wanted to see you before tomorrow. I… I’m so sorry for Uncle Ron.” Her brown eyes filled so suddenly with tears that Rose was taken aback, and when they spilled over the corner of their eyes, she was downright panicking. “I’ve missed you and him and everybody so much,” she sobbed. “I’m really sorry we were gone for so long without ever writing to you. I wanted to, I swear, but… but we didn’t think you would appreciate that, but we always—”

“I would have appreciated that,” blurted out Rose without thinking.

Lily sucked in her breath, she sniffled loudly and brought a hand to her stomach to draw some soothing circles on it.

Rose’s gaze couldn’t help training on it. “You’re really big,” she said, desperate to change the subject.

Lily let out a giggle filled with sobs. “Yeah, Dominique said I could pop any time,” she admitted.

“Do you want to… do you want to sit down?” asked Rose, gesturing towards the table.

Lily glanced at it and her stomach let out an involuntarily grumble. She flushed slightly.

“Are you hungry?” asked Rose softly.

She looked at her and smiled while some more tears fell down her cheeks. “Always,” she replied softly.

“I’ll warm up some of the breakfast Scorpius made,” said Rose as she walked to the hobs. “He made lots today, I don’t understand why he would…” Her voice trailed away, she knew why he would. “I mean, he made lots.”

She could hear Lily walking to the table and sitting slowly on a chair with heavy movements.

When Rose made the plate levitate in front of her, though, her cousin stared at her and not at the inviting food. “Alex couldn’t shut up about the fun he had with Auntie Rose the other day,” she said softly. “He said you took him to the museum to see the dinosaurs, and to the beach, and to have pizza and fairy floss.”

“Candy floss,” said Rose automatically. “I… I didn’t even know what fairy floss was.”

“That’s how they call it in Australia.”

“I know,” she replied promptly. “I looked it up.”

Lily stared at her so steadily that Rose had to look away from her earnest face and her big brown eyes.

“Thank you,” said Lily quietly. “He really… he really enjoyed that day with you.”

Rose nodded. She hugged herself and looked out of the window and at the grey sky. “It’s alright,” she replied uneasily.

Lily didn’t add anything else, but she finally tucked in her breakfast. She ate unhurriedly and with barely a sound, but when Rose looked at her, Lily had already gone through half of it.

“Is it good?” she asked shyly.

“Amazing,” said Lily, swallowing and cleaning her mouth on a napkin. “Best breakfast I’ve had in years.”

“Don’t exaggerate,” said Rose, but her lips turned upside at the corners. “If Scorpius hears you, he’ll be insufferable for a week.”

“I won’t tell him, then,” said Lily gently.

Rose looked at her and saw that she was smiling now. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks still slightly wet, but she looked happy. Happy to be there with her, could that be?

Rose swallowed. “You know… I missed you, too, Lily,” she whispered.

“Really?” murmured Lily, surprise in her voice.

Rose bit her bottom lip. “Yes,” she said a bit more forcefully. “Of course.” She took a deep breath and added, “Did you really tell Alex that I was your favourite cousin?”

Lily nodded eagerly. “Yes,” she admitted. “I told him everything we did when we were little and played at the Burrow.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have, I know.”

“No, you should have,” said Rose anxiously. She liked the idea that Alex knew her from his mother.

Lily smiled at her. “No, I mean, I shouldn’t have because sometimes it gave him some very bad ideas,” she said gently. “Like when he came home after a day at a park with three baby alligators in his pockets.”

“Three what?” exclaimed Rose, paling.

“Remember when we put toads in Vicky’s hair?” said Lily. “He couldn’t find any toads, though.”

Rose’s wide eyes became even wider. “He’s a troublemaker,” she whispered.

“Can you blame him?” said Lily. “With the family that he has…”

Rose smiled at her. She couldn’t do much but completely agree. “You brought him up really well, though, Lily,” said Rose. “You’re a fantastic mother.”

Lily’s eyes seemed to shine with tears again. “Oh, thank you,” she said warmly. “Thank you, Rose. That means a lot to me.”

Rose couldn’t help smiling at her earnest tone. She looked down, at her big belly under the stretched t-shirt. “She’s a girl, isn’t she?”

“Yes,” said Lily. “Emma. Hugo is over the moon.” She stretched a hand towards Rose and added, “Do you want to feel her?”

Rose was taken aback by the question. She had wanted to do just that since Lily had walked into the kitchen, but she didn’t think it was good etiquette to just place her hands on Lily’s belly without an invitation. She looked at her cousin’s face, all smiles and tears, and she nodded softly.

Lily’s fingers stretched towards her, and Rose took a step forwards and then another and finally placed her palm into Lily’s outstretched one. Lily tugged gently at her hand, guiding it on the swell of her belly. It was warm and taunt and the moment she placed the heel of her hand on Lily’s skin, there was a sharp movement underneath.

“Oh,” said Lily before letting out a giggle. “She must like you.”

Rose swallowed as a tiny foot pressed insistently against her hand. She placed her other palm on the other side of Lily’s belly, where could feel Lily’s heartbeat under her fingertips. It was fast and loud, as if she was excited or scared or anxious. Or all of these things.

Rose raised her eyes on Lily’s face and was surprised to have to blink away the tears to put her into focus. “I really missed you so much, Lily,” said Rose quietly, her voice catching in her throat. Then she raised her hands from Lily’s belly and slid them around her cousin’s neck as she bent over her and hugged the daylight out of the other woman.

Lily started sobbing as she hugged her back and Rose just embraced her all the more tightly as she joined her in her crying.

***

The hall at the Funeral Parlour in Ottery had been decorated remarkably well. Hugo couldn’t do much but find himself in awe of this sister’s work. He knew she had done it almost all by herself, too, not letting anybody else help her, and when they did try to help her, she came in at night to undo whatever they had done and redo it the way she wanted. Even though the way she wanted was exactly the way the others had done it.

There were big vases of beautiful flowers, roses and lilies mostly, scattered around the hall, chairs decked in black velvet, with discreet name tags on them; a picture of his father smiling and waving at the camera had been blown up and prepared behind the little stage where the funeral would be officiated from. There was also a table with tiny booklets with more pictures and readings and thoughts and a brief biography of his dad.

He opened one and flipped through the pictures quickly. Him and his mum. Him and Aunt Ginny. Him and his mum and Uncle Harry, after the battle. Him with Rose in his arms when she had just been born. His picture from the Chocolate Frog collection. Him and Victoire and Teddy on their wedding day.

Him and Hugo and Lily at the beach.

He stopped dead at that page, his lips parting in surprise. He hadn’t expected to find anything like that in there, he hadn’t expected to find a picture of himself, looking so happy to be there with his dad and Lily, not a care in the world over their faces. He still remembered the moment that picture had been taken, right before he teamed up with Lily to try to push his father underwater, only to have him push them in retaliation and make them laugh until they drank all the seaweed-y water and coughed it all out.

He shut the booklet and closed his eyes, trying to send those thoughts away. Those thoughts that made him ache. Those thoughts that made him miss his dad like he hadn’t in seven years.

“Rose outdid herself, didn’t she?”

Hugo started, and the booklet fall back on the table with a thud. He turned to look at Scorpius, who was smiling at him from the door.

“Sorry,” he said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” said Hugo quickly. “I was just lost in thought.”

Scorpius nodded. “Do you like the booklet?” he asked. “Albus and I took it into printing this morning. It’s still warm and smells of ink, doesn’t it?”

“I like it,” he said softly. “Everything is… is very organised.”

“Rose,” repeated Scorpius. “You know how she is.”

“Yeah.”

Scorpius’ eyes raised on the gigantic picture on the wall and he smiled. “Your father was an extraordinary man,” he said. “He didn’t like me at all when I first started dating Rose.”

“I know,” said Hugo. “I remember.”

“Then, one night,” he went on with a grin, “he had a fight with Rose about her not wanting to give the Ministry approval to the newest line of products at the shop. Cause they were dangerous.”

Hugo let out an amused snort.

“He came to me at three o’clock in the morning,” he said, “knocked on my door, raised a finger into my face and shouted: Are you bloody sure you want to marry Rose? You’re a good kid, Scorpius! She’s going to drive you up the freaking wall!”

Hugo’s eyes widened slightly. That sounded like his father alright.

Scorpius laughed softly. “I gave him a glass of Firewhisky and we drank until dawn, getting completely pissed,” he went on. “When he went back home, Rose said that he went to her and blabbed something about her having to ask me to marry her before I got away.”

Hugo shook his head. “I can imagine the scene.”

“Hey,” said Scorpius suddenly. “Your dad felt mighty guilty about… you know… about what happened between the two of you. He booked elven Portkeys to go to Australia in seven years, but never used any because… you know him, don’t you?”

Hugo’s heart skipped a beat. “Eleven Portkeys? I didn’t know,” he whispered.

“Yeah, well… one Sunday lunch, at the Burrow, Percy lamented that he kept booking them up without using them, that it was a great waste of perfectly good magic,” said Scorpius. “Your mum glared at him so nastily that Percy cowed for the rest of the meal.”

“Sounds like Mum,” murmured Hugo weakly.

Scorpius smiled at him. “What am I marrying into, eh?”

Hugo let out a soft snort. “Well, you’ve got more than ten years to think about it,” he said cheekily.

“Listen,” he said gently. “You can’t be my best-man because otherwise Albus will kill me slowly and painfully.” He swallowed. “But maybe you can come to the wedding, and lend me your kids for some ring-bearing duties?”

Hugo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I… we… I don’t think…”

“It’s next year,” he said calmly. “Two months after James’. You got plenty of time to think about it.”

Hugo nodded faintly and gave Scorpius a small smile. “For what it counts, I’m happy you’re marrying Rose and becoming my brother-in-law.”

Scorpius’ grin split his face into two. “Thanks, mate,” he said warmly. “I’m happy, too.”

***

Rose was staring out of the window and onto the Muggle neighbourhood where she had grown up. The sun had decided to finally come out that Sunday afternoon, and thus some people had decided to brave the cold and come out as well. Families with cocooned babies in their pushchairs, and couples who were taking their dogs for a stroll.

Her mother cleared her throat at her back and Rose half turned her head to listen to what she was going to say.

“Lily was ecstatic at lunch,” she said gently. “Couldn’t shut up about being asked to be your maid of honour.”

“Well, she asked me to be hers,” confessed Rose, “and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Hugo will never even let her come to my wedding, let alone being my maid of honour.”

Her mother let out a soft chuckle. “I’m afraid that despite appearances, it’s not Lily the one who usually needs permission to do stuff in their house,” said her mother wisely.

Rose smiled at the thought. “What did Hugo say?”

“He arrived late, and she didn’t tell him she saw you,” she replied. “He went to the Funeral Parlour this morning, said you did an excellent job.”

“He didn’t.”

“Did, too.”

Rose smiled and looked out of the window again. “Mum,” she whispered. “Do you think… do you think Dad would be happy if we… if we talked again?”

Her mother took a moment to reply. “In a scale from one to Lily being your maid of honour excited?” she asked.

“Muuum,” said Rose, but she was sure that her mother could feel the smile in her voice.

“He would be elated, Rose.” She took a deep breath. “That was your father’s greatest regret: that what he had done had made the two of you fall out.”

***

Hugo stared at the envelope in his hands. On it, his name had been written in his father’s untidy writing and dark ink stains had been dropped carelessly all around it. The letter inside was probably just as messy, and for a moment Hugo found himself panicking at the thought that it would be unreadable because covered in stains.

He took a deep breath and leant his head against the back of the sofa, closing his eyes, he tried to listen to the voices coming from downstairs. His children were running about, as always, they seemed to run on perpetual batteries; Uncle Harry and James were talking out loud about brooms, and Lily was chatting non-stop about something that he couldn’t quite catch, probably with Aunt Ginny, but Lily was so excited that she didn’t seem to let anybody interrupt her soliloquy.

Hugo opened his eyes, pushed himself off the sofa and pocketed the letter again. He walked towards the stairs and finally climbed them down to the living room where Alex and Liam were running and screaming and laughing.

He went to Lily, who was sitting comfortably on the sofa, next to her mother, and bent down to give her a kiss on her temple. “I’m going back to my mum’s,” he whispered as she turned to beam at him.

“What? No. Why so early?” She grabbed his hand into hers and tugged at him a bit. “Stay for dinner, please, Hugo.”

He smiled gently at her and let her pull him on the sofa next to her. When he plopped next to her legs, she turned slowly, and fitted under his arms, hugging him tightly as her belly rested against his side.

Aunt Ginny smiled when Hugo looked at her, and he smiled back. “Have I said thank you enough, Auntie?” he said, leaning his chin on top of Lily’s head.

“Thank you for what, Hugo?” she asked calmly.

“For putting up with two hyperactive little boys,” he replied, “and for feeding and looking after us all.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said nonchalantly. “I’ve been waiting seven years to have you back in England. We’re so happy to see you lot that you can have another five children and stay forever.”

Lily giggled. “Duly noted, Mum,” she said from against Hugo’s chest. “Only five?”

“Have seven, ten, fifteen. We don’t care,” said Aunt Ginny way too seriously. “As long as they are here, and they are happy and we can see them every day.”

Hugo smiled. “Thanks, Auntie. I’m pretty sure this one is the last one, though.” He squeezed Lily in his arms to reassure her that they were not having any other little redhaired baby after the upcoming one.  

Instead of promptly agreeing with him, as he had expected, Lily raised her head from his chest and looked at him with her brow furrowed. “Says who?” she asked seriously.

Hugo blinked in surprise at her resolute tone. “Pardon?”

“Why is she the last one?” She pushed herself back a little and sat up. “We haven’t discussed that. Do you not want any more children?”

He blinked again, looking rather stupid probably. “Lily, we’re about to have three kids,” he replied, brushing his fingers against her belly.

“Yes,” she said hotly. “So?”

“So, that’s more than my parents.”

“Not more than mine,” she challenged.

“Yeah, it’s the same amount, though,” he said slowly. “A good amount. Three. Perfect number. That’s something to think about.”

She narrowed her eyes, but he could see she was probably about to smile.

“I’m sorry,” he went on when she didn’t reply. “Just for fun, how many kids did you want to have?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “As many as they come.”

Hugo nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it upon myself not to make them come anymore, then,” he said solemnly.

“Hugo!” she chastised, but then she backhanded his stomach jokingly before hugging him again and fitting under arms again.

Aunt Ginny was biting hard on her bottom lip as she stared at them, trying not to laugh at their exchange.

“But if they do come…” whispered Lily. “We are not—”

“Of course not,” Hugo whispered back, squeezing her.

She smiled against his chest and he could feel her relax in his arms. He tried to push the letter and the funeral and his father at the back of his head and enjoy those few moments as if nothing had happened. He succeeded for exactly twenty seconds, then Liam noticed that his parents were cosying up on the sofa and decided that it was a clever idea to pounce them, and so did Alex when he noticed that his little brother was being smothered with hugs and kisses.

Ten minutes later Lily was reading them all the Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Hugo had to agree with his son, she was really good at doing the voices.

***

The sun had already set, and her mother had turned on the living room light on her way to the kitchen. The kettle was boiling raucously now, and Rose could hear the clinking of teaspoons against cups and saucers as they levitated around the kitchen, and of rummaging through the cupboard to find the decaf tea bags that would have allowed them to sleep that night.

It was late already, Rose and her mother had had dinner alone at the same table where the Sunday before her father had seated with them, and now they were waiting.

Rose’s heart skipped a beat every time she heard a noise; her head was full of the words that she was going to say to Hugo when he would arrive; she adjusted her speech every time she repeated it. She hadn’t tried it out loud for fear that someone might have overheard her, and she didn’t want anybody to hear it. Not even Scorpius or her mother. She feared they would laugh at her, maybe try to correct her way of saying this or that, maybe convince her that this or that wasn’t necessary.

But everything she wanted to say to him was necessary.

“I’m sure he’s going to be here any minute, now,” said her mother as she offered Rose a freshly brewed cup of tea.

She thanked her as she took it. “Are you sure he’s not staying at Grimmauld Place?” she asked, her voice way too concerned for her liking.

Her mother shook her head. “He usually helps Lily put the boys into bed, though,” she explained calmly. She sipped a bit of tea and took a deep breath. “I think I’m going to turn in, Rose,” she said softly. “I’m really tired and tomorrow…” Her words trailed away as she looked into her cup of tea.

“Yes,” said Rose quietly. “Tomorrow…”

Her mother nodded, when she looked up at Rose she was smiling softly, her eyes shining with tears. “Your dad would be very proud of you,” she whispered.

Rose opened her mouth to thank her, but no sound issued forth. She nodded, instead.

Her mother let the cup of tea float in mid-air as she bent over to plant a kiss on Rose’s curls. Rose closed her eyes to savour that moment.

“I love you, Rose,” she whispered before straightening up.

“I love you, too, Mum.”

She smiled again, then grabbed the cup of tea and started on the stairs.

Rose listened to her steps fading and then the master bedroom’s door closing at her back, then she waited and waited a bit more, sipping her tea and staring at the fireplace for what seemed like interminable minutes. When the clock struck ten, she feared that he might have decided to spend the night with Lily rather than come home. The fact that she could understand that, made her feel even more resigned that she was probably not going to see him before the funeral.

She drank the last remnants of the tea and stood up. She went to the kitchen to wash the cup the Muggle way, needing something to fill her time with. The water was hot, and it burned her fingers, but she didn’t particularly care, nor she did try to make it lukewarm.

“Mum, I’m so sorry I’m late, but Lily didn’t…” Hugo’s voice trailed away as he stepped into the kitchen and saw her.

Rose’s mug fell from her soapy hands into the sink; it didn’t break, but the clutter echoed through the kitchen in the silence of the night. She grabbed it again and placed it on the drainer, then she turned, drying her hands over her jeans.

“Lily what?” she asked anxiously.

Hugo’s lips pressed together for the briefest of moments; he looked tired and a bit lost, Rose didn’t know if it was because he didn’t expect her to be there, or because of whatever had happened with Lily.

“She didn’t feel too well,” he replied quietly. “She had a bit of fainting spell again.” He bit his bottom lip.

“What?” asked Rose, paling.

“Dominique said she’s okay, just tired and emotional,” he went on. “But… you know…”

Rose nodded jerkily.

He nodded back.

Then nothing.

Suddenly, it hit Rose very hard: she was the one who was supposed to talk to him. She was supposed to tell him all the things she had prepared in her head. Start from the very beginning. She had rehearsed every word, but now she couldn’t remember any of it.

“I’m… I’m off to bed,” said Hugo slowly. “Long day, tomorrow…”

She felt her heart beating faster in her chest; she was about to lose her chance to talk to him. She tried hard to remember what she had wanted to tell him. The words had dissipated in her head, though. There was absolutely nothing there.

He nodded at her and turned away when she didn’t reply, finally starting in the direction of the staircase.

Rose’s heart was beating so loudly in her ears that when she opened her mouth, she barely managed to hear what she was saying.

“I’m sorry!” she called after him.

He stopped and turned to look at her, shaking his head a little. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “I should have put down my foot and not let her travel the world while—”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she cut him off.

Hugo swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He shook his head again, now more vigorously. “It’s… it’s okay, I’m sorry, too… I was being an idiot yesterday… I’m sorry… I didn’t—”

“No, it’s not about yesterday,” she said desperately. “I’m sorry for this past seven years.”

“Rose—”

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean to say those things to you and Lily. I didn’t mean to… to talk to you like that, to make Lily cry, to fight with you and never talk to you again. I missed you so much, you have no idea. You know… when I got the job at the Ministry, my first thought was telling you, but then I remembered that you were in Australia and we weren’t talking, and I just went home and cried because I couldn’t share the news with you. I didn’t talk to James for three months after you left. One night, he came to my flat and we fought so badly, the neighbours downstairs had to call the Aurors because they thought we were killing each other. We had to spend the night at the DMLE, until Uncle Harry came to bail us out. And Dad wrote to you. Mum gave you the letter, didn’t she? He asked me to read it before he sent it, and I was so looking forward to him sending it and making up with you and maybe you’d have finally come home if you received it. And… and then when he got cold feet and decided not to send it anymore… he… we fought, and I cried, because I really hoped… I really hoped that one letter would have made everything better between us again, and you would come home, with Lily… and I missed her so much and I saw her this morning, and she’s beautiful and so, so, so huge, and so, so, so happy to be here, and it made me think that it was all my fault if she had been torn from her family… because she was… she was just in the middle of our squabbles, and she… she doesn’t deserve that anymore, and I just… I want to see her every day and talk to her and go out and have tea and cake with her, like we used to do all the time before you left. And I want to have Christmas with you two and with your children, and I want to celebrate my birthday with you, and I want to have Lily as my maid of honour and I want to be hers, and she wants that, too, and I… and I really, really, really don’t want to attend Dad’s funeral tomorrow and still being angry with you. Even if it’s just for a day, I want to sit next to you, hold your hand when they talk about him, cry on your shoulder like when we buried Crookshanks… I want to… I just want to be your sister again.” She took a deep breath and swallowed before adding in a much softer tone, “Even if it’s just for a day. I… I want to be your sister again.”

For all those interminable minutes of her rant, Hugo had stood still like a statue. His face struck in an astonished expression that didn’t let Rose understand what his feelings were. She would have stopped much earlier than that if she had understood that he didn’t want to hear these things. But she couldn’t tell from his agape eyes and his slacken jaw if he agreed with her or not.

She suddenly felt very lost and very vulnerable after she had bared her soul to her brother like that. She took a deep breath and bit hard on her bottom lip, looking away from him and shivering. She didn’t know what to say next, but she didn’t feel like it was her turn to say anything at all.

Time went by so slowly that Rose thought that someone must have messed with it with some spell. She could barely hear the Grandfather Clock in the corner ticketing the seconds away over the blood pulsing in her ears.

Finally, after what had seemed years to her, Hugo cleared his throat.

She looked at him with eyes wide and filled with expectancy. He closed his mouth and when he opened it again, his voice was throaty almost beyond recognition. “I don’t want that,” he whispered, and Rose could feel the dreaded words cut through her heart like pointy needles.

She took a sharp breath and Hugo’s face went out of focus behind her sudden tears.

“I don’t want to be your brother again just for a day,” he went on. “I missed you, too. When Lily had Liam, I wanted to Floo Call you first. I wanted to ask you to be his godmother. I really did. I… I missed you. And I missed Mum and I missed Dad… I… I miss him… I… I miss him so much… I…” Hugo’s voice trailed away as he started sobbing messily.

Rose let out a loud wail and threw herself at him. “I miss him, too,” she sobbed as she hugged him, and he hugged her, and he cried in her curls while she soaked his shirt with all the tears that she had always let only Scorpius see.

And it was liberating and scary and wonderful, and ten times more intense than she had expected.

***

When Hugo woke up, his bedroom was still mostly plunged into darkness. There was only a faint light coming from the street, but he couldn’t say if it was the streetlight or the sun starting to rise. He blinked a few times, trying to wake up completely. Even though he had gone to bed only a few hours before, he found that it didn’t take him too long to send the last remnants of sleep away.

He sat up, stretched his arms over his head and started thinking about the night before. He had ended up sharing two pots of tea with his sister, while they talked the night away. At some point, Rose had sent her Patronus to Scorpius, telling him that she was going to sleep in her old room for that night, but still they had gone on talking until the wee hours of the morning, reminiscing about their father, the time spent together with him, and telling each other everything about those seven years apart.

Rose told him about her therapy sessions, how she became good friends with Scorpius’ dad, her constant bickering with Albus. She told him about their father and how he won the award of shopkeeper of the year in Diagon Alley, her work at the Ministry, how she planned to become Minister after their mother, her plans for her wedding, and many other things.

Hugo told her about Australia, the weekends at the beach, his job as an Auror, Lily’s job as Magizoologist and how she hadn’t been able to really do much since Alex was born. He told her about the holidays they took in New Zealand and Japan, and he told her about his house, describing every single room as she had asked him to. By the end of their talk, when they could barely keep their eyes open, they still had many questions for each other, but it was late, and they had to get some rest in order to confront the following day.

In the end, at about four in the morning, they went their separate ways, after having hugged many times and whispered a goodnight to each other.

And now, it was barely seven and Hugo was already up, his gut filled with a mix of fear and anxiousness and excitement. He stood from the bed and walked slowly into the hallway. He went to the bathroom and found the mirror already glazed over by the vapour, as if someone had already taken a shower. He took one, too, and quickly donned his pyjamas again.

As he climbed down the stairs, he could hear the hushed voices of his sister and his mother coming from the kitchen.

He walked in there, curls still damp with water, and blinked when he found them already dressed and their hair already styled to perfection.

“Morning,” he whispered.

His mother looked at him and smiled, her face looking rather melancholic on that grim day. “Morning, Hugo,” she said gently.

“Morning,” said Rose, a small smile on her lips, too.

He smiled back and stepped forward, grabbing a mug that his mother had levitated towards him as he sat down at the kitchen table with them.

He sipped the warm liquid. Milk, no sugar, just as he liked it.

“What time does it start again?” he asked softly.

“Nine,” said Rose. She exchanged a glance with her mother before turning to look at him. “We… we were wondering if you wanted to say a few words…”

Hugo’s lips parted in surprise. “A speech?”

“A few words,” reiterated Rose. “But only if you want to. I… I can write it for you. Or cut off a chunk of mine and you can read it… but only if you want to…”

He bit his bottom lip. “I don’t… I don’t know,” he admitted. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” said his mother promptly. “You take all the time you need.”

“Well, you’ve got until two this afternoon,” said Rose softly. “That’s when… when we’re burying him.”

Hugo nodded. “Thank you,” he said without even knowing why. “I should go and get ready…”

“Have breakfast with us first,” said his mother calmly.

He smiled and nodded and soon he was served warm toast and jams and butter and all sorts of delicious food that he had to force himself to eat.

***

“Did you have a good evening?”

Rose turned to face Scorpius. He was wearing a concerned look over his handsome face, his grey eyes gazed into hers, and he looked as if he was waiting for her to tell him exactly what had happened the night before.

She nodded softly, and her lips curved upwards in a tiny smile. “We’re invited to Australia,” she whispered.

The change on his face was tangible, and Rose thought about Mr Malfoy and all the times he lamented that Scorpius was unable to hide his emotions. “But that’s wicked,” he said in hushed tones, for if someone walked past, they probably wouldn’t have appreciated him being all cheerful at the funeral of his fiancée’s father.

“Yeah,” she whispered as she took a step towards him and let him hug her to his chest. “And I asked Lily to be my maid of honour.”

Scorpius squeezed her in his arms. “And I bet she was excited about it.”

“Yeah,” she repeated calmly.

There was a moment of silence between them, and all Rose could hear was his breathing, their hearts and the voices of the people taking place around them.

“Are you ready?” he asked gently.

She shook her head. “I wish it was tomorrow already,” she admitted. “I don’t want to talk in front of all these people.”

“You’ve spent the past few days perfecting your speech,” said Scorpius gently. “It would be a waste not to use it.”

She took a deep breath, unable to tell him the idea that had matured in her head in the past few hours.

“Miss Weasley?” a tall, dark haired man called her.

She detached herself from Scorpius and looked at him.

“We’re ready to start,” he said gently.

She took a sharp breath and nodded jerkily.

The man smiled and gestured for her to take her place while the rite began.

***

Lily squeezed Hugo’s hand so forcefully, it hurt him. He looked away from the stage where the ceremony was taking place and turned to look at her, expecting to find her in tears. She wasn’t, though. Her eyes were shining, but they were also wide open, and her teeth were buried deep in her bottom lip. She was taking some small, fast and inaudible breaths while the hand that wasn’t gripping his was pressed against her belly.

He tried to move his hand and squeeze her back, but her vice-like grasp didn’t allow him. He lowered his head and brought his lips a few inches from her ear. “Hey, are you okay?” he whispered.

She didn’t even turn to look at him, but nodded with a jerk as she took a sharp breath, her eyes trained on the officiant, who was talking about his father and what a good person he had been.

She gritted her teeth and scrunched up her eyes for a second, then her hand relaxed slightly, and she took a deep breath, and then another one and another as if only now she could be able to breathe.

He moved his fingers into her grip and rubbed his thumb all over the smooth back of her hand, trying to comfort her. Next to her, Liam had fallen asleep with his mouth wide open and the back of his head against the back of the chair.

“And now, Mr Weasley’s daughter would like to say a few words,” said the officiant at last.

Hugo turned his head to his sister, who, to his surprise, seemed to squirm in her seat. He stretched his free arm towards her lap and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

She glanced at him and gave him a distressed smile, right before she stood up. Scorpius’ hand slid from between her shoulder blades, where he had been caressing her.

She took some slow steps towards the stage and swallowed so loudly that the noise seemed to bounce off the walls of the room.

Finally, she drew out a stack of papers that – Hugo was sure – made Albus groan under his breath and she positioned them on the stand in front of her. She looked at them and then up again at the crowd of people gathered to say goodbye to their dad.

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Hello,” she said, her voice was still hoarse, though, so she cleared it again. “Hello,” she repeated, voice now almost back to normal. “I… I wanted to thank you all for being here today.”

Hugo could see some people bobbing their heads up and down in reply, someone was already tearing up, probably expecting Rose’s speech to be heart-rending as she described happy years spent with their father. Most of them without Hugo, probably.

“I…” she went on, slightly more un-surely than Hugo had expected. “My… my father had an intense and exciting life, which was cut short way too abruptly.” She pointed her wand at the wall at her back and a picture of their father appeared: he was with his brothers and sister, a messy and dirty bunch of children in the middle of the field behind the Burrow. Aunt Ginny on Uncle Charlie’s shoulders, looking like she was having the time of her life, his father held upside down by Uncle Bill was laughing his lungs off. “My father was the youngest of six brothers; he grew up near Ottery St Catchpole, spending most of his time in the open air with…” Her voice trailed away, and Hugo could see her eyes stare blankly at the notes in front of her.

He glanced at Scorpius and saw that he was furrowing his brow as he looked at Rose; his mother was holding her breath, waiting for whatever Rose was about to do. Lily squeezed his hand again, but less forcefully than before, and he squeezed it back.

Finally, after what had felt like long, interminable minutes, Rose looked up from the notes and at the crowd of people before glancing fleetingly at Hugo.

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly, “I’m so sorry. You don’t want to listen to my retelling of my father’s life. Particularly, because I timed myself and it’s about twenty-three minutes long. Don’t groan, Albus, I can hear you from here.” She looked at him and smirked subtly in his direction.

“I wasn’t,” he muttered, visibly embarrassed.

Rose took a deep breath. “My dad was a bloody amazing person,” she said matter-of-factly, “and yes, sorry for my language, but that’s something I got from him.” She smiled at Victoire, who was trying hard to cover Remus’ ears. “My dad was passionate and happy and a genius. Who here hasn’t coloured with his enchanted crayons? Or who hasn’t used a Forever Warm Mug? All his inventions. He was amazing. He would come home when Hugo and I were little, and he would always have something for us. Secret sweets—sorry, Mum, I know you didn’t approve of them—new tricks from the shop—books, toys, a Kneazle, an owl… We would always wait impatiently for him to come home, have dinner with us and read us a story, or let us stay up well past our bedtime when Mum was working late.”

She glanced at Hugo again, and when she did, he smiled back at her. He did remember all those things. He did, and he smiled at the thought of his dad coming home and giving him presents and hugging him and reading him stories and slipping him sweets after he’d brushed his teeth. He bit down hard on his bottom lip as he remembered those happy memories. He squeezed Lily’s hand again and when she squeezed his back, it was once again in a vice-like grip.

“But,” Rose went on, “and I swear to Merlin, I know that you shall not speak ill of the dead, and I am not going to—but my dad was the most passionate, unfiltered, stubborn, and fierce person I’ve ever met. I loved him to bits, and I knew I was his little princess, and he was my hero, but what you probably don’t know is that we fought like crazy.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “When he complained about Scorpius, I didn’t talk to him for three weeks. Until I brought him a tray of pumpkin pastes made by my very talented boyfriend, and he became instantaneously his best friend.”

There was laughter and Scorpius chuckled awkwardly on the chair across from Hugo. Lily just squeezed his hand more forcefully and closed her eyes, her body going slightly rigid.

“Hey,” whispered Hugo. “Hey, Lily. You okay?”

She nodded jerkily but didn’t even open her eyes to look at him.

He stretched a hand and circled her shoulder to draw her to him, but she resisted him forcefully, her whole body tense like the chords of a violin.

“And when he fought with Hugo,” she went on, making Hugo jerk his head towards her, “I stood by his side. Not even questioning for a moment if what he was doing was right.” She took a deep breath. “It was not. I mean, look at them.” She gestured towards Hugo and Lily, and Hugo could feel all eyes riveted on them. “Seven years, and two healthy boys and one healthy girl on her way later and they are the closest you get to marital bliss. He told them that they were too young and stupid to understand what they were doing, and I agreed with him, and I even looked up articles about cousin marriage to scare them apart.” She smiled. “But it was wrong. They love each other, and they are happy, isn’t that all that matters?”

There were some murmurs of agreement.

“Still, Dad was so busy doing what he thought was the right thing for them that nobody, not me, not my mum, not even Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny managed to make him change his mind,” she went on. “But, little known fact about my dad, he regretted what he did. He loved Hugo so fiercely and he missed him so much that he went through hell the last seven years.” She looked resolutely at the people in front of her. “He panicked every time Australia was on the news for some dragon attack, or for an epidemic of Dragon Pox. He sent the Australian Ministry thousands of Galleons worth of products from the shop just to have news of Hugo every week.”

Hugo’s head snapped up at that, completely forgetting about the pain in his hand where Lily was squeezing him. His dad had done what?

“Lucky for him, the Minister for Magic of Australia is apparently a funny bloke,” she said, provoking some amused laughter from the crowd. “So, Dad knew when Hugo went on paternity leave, and when he risked his life while on a mission, he knew when he was going on holiday with his family, and when Lily went to visit him to show off their children to the other Aurors. And he couldn’t sleep for days afterwards, overjoyed, or worried, or saddened by the fact that he couldn’t be there to be with them.” She looked at Uncle Percy and added, “He booked eleven Portkeys that he never had the courage to use. Uncle Percy was that close to sue him for hindering his job.”

More laughter, and Hugo wondered how that eulogy had become so light-hearted and at the same time so important for him. Rose was as smart as their mother, he sometimes forgot that particular.

“But bloody hell, was he stubborn,” she sighed. “So, he would tell me these things – that he missed them, that he was going to write to them, that he wanted to go to Australia, that he’d keep an eye on Hugo – not because I was his princess, but because I was just like him—yes, and it’s not always a compliment, I know. I understood him, even though we often quarrelled about… well, everything. But he would tell me these things and then always stop before he could act upon them. Even though Mum and I were always well excited to be that close to patch up our family again.”

There were some sympathetic sounds coming from behind Hugo, and he didn’t turn to look at the faces around him, but he knew that many were smiling.

“I think,” went on Rose, “I think that now, wherever he might be, he is ecstatic to look down and see Lily and Hugo holding hands here, in the same room as their family, Alex playing with Remus and Liam sleeping so soundly. No, don’t wake him, Uncle Harry, that was one of Dad’s favourite things to do, too.”

More laughter, and even Hugo found himself smiling, now.

Lily squashed his hand into hers and kept squeezing for some long seconds before finally relaxing and taking a sharp breath.

“Lily,” whispered Hugo, getting closer to her. “Are you okay?”

She opened her eyes and finally turned to look at him, a tense smile on her lips. “Yes,” she replied breathlessly.

“You don’t look… okay… you look tense,” he said, scrutinising her face.

“It’s the funeral,” she replied quickly, “and the emotions.”

“Do you want to—”

“And now, I’m sorry if I haven’t asked before this morning and you haven’t replied yet, but Hugo, would you like to say something?”

Hugo’s attention was jerked from Lily as he looked back at Rose with eyes wide. He blinked a couple of times, but Rose was smiling encouragingly, and when he turned to look at the people seated on the front row with him, his mother, Scorpius, Lily, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, his grandparents, they were all looking at him with hope and expectation that he would get up there and spend a few words on his dad.

Lily squeezed his hand in a more human fashion, and when he looked at her, he saw that she was looking at him with hope.

He squeezed her hand back before letting her go and standing up. He walked up to where Rose was standing, and she smiled at him as she stepped back, letting him take up his place before the crowd.

He turned towards the crowd and for a moment he had to steady himself before all those people who were looking at him expectantly. He swallowed loudly and cleared his throat, just like Rose had done. And just like her, his voice was still quite hoarse once he spoke. “I’m…” he started uncertainly. “I’m not sure what to say…”

He could see the faces before him holding their breath as they waited for him to say something, but for a moment he really had no idea what to say to them. He hadn’t been there for the past seven years; how could he celebrate his dad’s life in any way in front of his closest friends.

He cleared his throat again and looked at Lily, but she was torturing her bottom lip again, eyes lowered as she breathed quickly.

“I’m not sure what to say,” he repeated. “I… I wasn’t here for the past seven years of my dad’s life.” He took a deep breath and went on, “As most of you know or had picked up from Rose’s speech, my dad and I had a row seven years ago. I told him I was in love with my own cousin and he didn’t approve of that, so I—just as stubborn as he was—dragged Lily all the way to Australia, never to come home again.” He glanced at his mother, who was quietly crying while Scorpius was patting her awkwardly on her back. “I…” He swallowed loudly and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to find the strength to keep going. “I regret not coming home. I regret holding a grudge with him for so long. I regret never writing to my family to tell them anything of what was going on. I… I can only tell you that… that I miss my father very much and if I could come back, if someone had told me that I would have to come to his funeral without having made up with him first, I…” His voice trailed away as he thought about what he would have done had he known that one day he wouldn’t have had the chance to hug him and talk to him ever again. “I can’t go back,” he went on, his voice a bit shaky, “but I know that he would be happy to see me standing here with Rose and my mum, and all of you.” His eyes misted up, vision now clouded. “I’m… I’m sorry, Dad. I truly am. I miss you and I wish you were here, but I promise you I’ll make it up to you. I promise… I promise…”

He sobbed the last few words, even though he didn’t want that. He could feel Rose hugging him from behind and he let her and twisted his body to give her a one-arm hug back. He was vaguely aware of people clapping their hands and other people crying and calling his name, and then he wasn’t aware of anything else but his sister and the warm feeling that pervaded him.

***

Rose stared at the two wizards as they levitated her father’s coffin with secure movements of their wands. The crowd was silent as everybody stared at Ronald Weasley being lowered into the ground in the cemetery near Ottery St Catchpole.

She couldn’t really hold back the tears, not that she tried anyway; she leant heavily against Hugo’s side while her mother did the same on his other side and Hugo hugged them both. They were all sobbing loudly, and everybody else seemed to want to keep themselves at a respectful distance and let them cry their hearts’ content. Not that the others weren’t crying. Rose could hear her grandparents sobbing and calling her father’s name. She could see Aunt Ginny and Uncle Bill hugging each other and crying silently. She could see Uncle Harry hugging a sleeping Liam to his chest, his green eyes huge behind the tears. Everybody else was either sobbing or standing in a dignified silence, staring in front of them with a saddened air, like Mr Malfoy or Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Finally, the coffin reached the bottom of the hole and the wizards looked at Hugo, wordlessly asking him if he wanted to throw the first fistful of soil on top of it. Hugo sniffled loudly and fished out his wand from his pocket. He raised it and flicked it wordlessly. A fistful of soil landed on the coffin and when he pocketed his wand, Rose did the same, and then their mother, and then everybody else from their family and closest friends. When nobody else stepped forward, Rose looked around herself, her eyes blurry with tears.

“Where’s Lily?” she whispered, brushing away the tears.

Hugo didn’t look away from the place where the two wizards were covering the coffin. “Inside, with Dom,” he said distractedly. “She was tired.”

Rose felt a pang of disappointment that Lily had missed that moment, but she had looked particularly tired earlier on, not even standing from the chair when everybody else did.

With a loud noise the tombstone that read what a wonderful husband, father, son, friend and brother their father was, was placed on top of the fresh tomb, and finally the two men left the family to mourn in pace.

Rose didn’t know for how long they stayed there. She knew that their mother left after a while, walking away with Uncle Harry and Liam, some of the people behind them went back to the Funeral Parlour, some others of them came to offer them their condolences again before wandering off towards their homes, some others gathered a bit farther away, waiting for Rose didn’t know what.

She didn’t move, though, she stood there, hugging Hugo as if her life depended on it, while he hugged her back.

“It… it was a good ceremony,” said Hugo quietly. “You said… fantastic things.”

“You did too,” she whispered encouragingly.

He squeezed her a bit more forcefully in reply and she leant her head on his chest.

She felt the tears drying on his face as she stood in the chilly air of that September morning in the cemetery. She suddenly felt like she could have stayed there until it became too cold and someone came to tell them to go home, that they would come back in the morning. She didn’t want to, though. She didn’t want to leave her dad there all alone.

“Ehm, Hugo?” Albus’ voice was nervous when it reached her ears all of a sudden. “Can you… can you come inside?”

Rose took a deep breath as she turned to look at him. “Albus not now, okay?” she sighed. “Leave us alone for a bit.”

Hugo turned, too. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’ll be in in a bit, okay? Just give us a bit more time.”

Albus shifted uneasily on his feet. “I… I think you really need to come now,” he said, biting his bottom lip.

“Why?” asked Hugo, his voice slightly alarmed now as Roses felt rather uneasy as well at their cousin’s insistence.

Albus took a deep breath as he looked at him. “Because I think that Lily is in labour.”

***

Hugo was not sure how he found himself inside the Funeral Parlour again. One moment he was standing in front of his father’s tomb, and then next he was walking through the door and looking wildly around himself. Albus pointed him unnecessarily towards a corner where most of their family was crowded and he made his way to that direction.

He had expected to find Lily seated on a chair, reassuring people that she would wait for Hugo to go to St Mungo’s, like they had done for Liam – they had completely and utterly freaked out for Alex’s birth – but instead she was lying on the floor, a transfigured bed underneath her and Dominique kneeling between her spread legs.

Hugo hurried to her side and people moved away to let him pass.

“What… what’s happening?” he asked as he knelt next to her and grabbed her hand. “Why are you on the floor? What’re you… You have to go to St Mungo’s!”

“There’s no time to go to St Mungo’s,” said Dominique matter-of-factly. “She’s almost ten centimetres.”

“What?” asked Hugo looking at their cousin. “What? Already? But you just… you just got…”

“Apparently, she’s been having contractions since nine this morning,” said Dominique severely. “Without telling anybody.”

Hugo thought that whoever was laughing hysterically in a moment like that would soon be hexed by someone in his family, but when Albus grabbed his shoulder and called his name, he understood that it was him the one who was laughing.

“I’m sorry,” said Hugo, looking at Lily. “I just thought that Dominique said that you’ve been having contractions since nine without telling anybody.”

She looked sheepishly at him. “I didn’t want to distract you from the funeral,” she admitted feebly. “I’m sorry.”

“God,” muttered Hugo before turning to Dominique. “So, what, like… she’s about to have the baby now? She can’t even make it to St Mungo’s?”

Dominique looked sternly at him, but at that moment another contraction shook Lily’s body and she squeezed his hand so powerfully that Hugo’s eyes teared up, and he mentally kicked himself for not having put two and two together during the funeral. But who would not scream during contractions? During both deliveries, she had screamed so much Hugo had become deaf for a few hours afterwards.

“Oh, my God,” blabbered James, shifting from one foot to the other. “No, Lily. Lily? Oh, God. She’s suffering. She’s hurting. Can’t you give her something? Oh, no… no, Lily! Oh, God! Give her a potion, Al! Dom, can’t you do a spell? Oh, God! Lily, no!”

“God,” snapped Dominique as she pressed her hand on Lily’s lower stomach. “Keep it together, James!”

“I don’t like to see my little sister suffering!” he protested.

“If she weren’t suffering it would be much worse,” growled Dominique. “It meant that she was unconscious, and we had to cut her open.”

“Oh, God. No! Don’t say these things!”

“Alex and Liam are keeping it together better than you,” snapped Dominique, jerking her head towards the kids, who were looking at their mother with wide eyes.

“But she’s not their little sister!”

“It’s their mother, you idiot!” She finally stood up, and used the hand that hadn’t been between Lily’s legs to slap him soundly on his cheek.

“Get out,” she said tersely as he staggered back, eyes huge and a slightly different shocked expression on his face now. “Everybody who is not the father, a Healer or Aunt Ginny just get the hell out of here until this baby is born, okay?”

Albus, Scorpius, and Rose took it upon themselves to usher the people towards the door.

Hugo looked down at Lily as her head lulled back while the contraction passed. Aunt Ginny brushed away some of Lily’s locks from her forehead. “Seriously, how could you not tell me that you were having contractions?” he asked severely. “Honestly, Lily.”

She cracked one eye open and shot him a glare. “How could you not notice that I was having contractions?” she snapped back, voice ragged with effort. “I ground your fingers into a pulp. Am I usually that strong?”

He closed his mouth and looked sternly at her, feeling an embarrassed blush creeping up his neck. She was bloody right, but he was currently too overwhelmed with every kind of emotion known to humanity to manage to pull together any kind of retort.

“I knew there was something wrong this morning when you didn’t finish your breakfast,” said Aunt Ginny, shaking her head. “I have never seen anybody being that stoic during contractions.”

“I got a bit of Al’s pain potion before… argh!” Another contraction rocked her body from head to toe, and Hugo let her squeeze his fingers until something creaked. He didn’t complain, he just moved closer to her, helping her head up as she tensed her neck.

Dominique bobbed Lily’s black dress up her thighs and pushed her hand between her legs once more. She narrowed her eyes in concentration while she looked at Lily’s face, and, when the contraction passed, she knelt back and nodded. “Next one, get ready to push, okay?”

“What?” asked Hugo, voice high pitched as if she had asked him to push. “Already? But her waters! And… and… already?”

“Her waters broke thirty minutes ago,” said Aunt Ginny severely. “Do you think she told us that she was in labour?”

“I’m sorry,” breathed Lily. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“But last time it took her almost fifteen hours to have Liam!” protested Hugo weakly.

Dominique nodded, not even looking at him. “And the time before that?”

“Almost a whole day strapped to that hospital bed,” said Hugo, eyes wide.

“This time I’d say about four or five,” replied Dominique with a grin. “Next one, I bet it’s going to be out in twenty minutes.”

“Bloody hell, are you joking about this?” muttered Hugo.

Dominique winked at him, but then Lily gritted her teeth, announcing another contraction and Dominique’s attention was riveted to her. “Push!” she ordered.

Lily did as she was told. She breathed quickly, pushed, tried to survive the contraction, squeezed both Hugo and Aunt Ginny’s hands and rocked back and forth while Dominique assessed the situation.

“It’s going well,” said Dominique, nodding. “It’s going very well. You’re doing amazing, Lily. You’re going to have this baby before James has even recovered from the shock of seeing you in labour.”

“He’s never going to recover from that,” said Aunt Ginny matter-of-factly. “Last week, he fainted when Remus pulled out a tooth and a bit of blood fell on his chin.”

Hugo wanted to laugh at that, but when Lily’s body tensed again, and she shook through another contraction, he forgot about everything and everybody around him, and focused all his attention on Lily again.

“Push!” exhorted Dominique, unnecessarily, apparently, because Lily was definitely already doing it. “I can feel the head,” she said as Lily raised her back from the mattress to push with all the energy left in her tired body.

Hugo moved behind her as she scrunched up her eyes and screamed. Then she took a deep breath and finally leant back against him, trying to recover from the pain.

“Next one, she’s out, I promise,” said Dominique, looking at Lily. “Last effort, Lily. One little push and you’re done.”

Lily swallowed, but nodded bravely at her words. She closed her eyes and seemed to wait for the next contraction. Hugo brushed away her hair from her matted forehead.

“You’re so good, my love,” he whispered gently. “So good. One last time and we’re going to have our little princess.”

She nodded again, her pale face tired beyond reason. She took another deep breath and, before she could exhale, another contraction made her tense up.

“Push!” said Dominique, putting her hand back between Lily’s legs. “Okay, push again. A bit more. Yes. Yes! Lily, I’ve got her! One last time, darling. One little push.”

Dominique’s grin split her face into two and when she withdrew her arms, Hugo could see them covered in fluids and the tiny body of his daughter.

Lily sagged back against him, letting out a sigh of relief as the cries of the baby finally filled the air. She was as red as all babies are, moving her arms and legs and crying at the top of her lungs as Dominique cut off the umbilical cord.

Hugo gaped at her as Aunt Ginny helped Dom clean the baby and wrap her into a warm and freshly Transfigured blanket.

“Oh,” said Aunt Ginny warmly. “She’s a redhead, who would have said that.”

“Oh, Mum,” whispered Lily, leaning her head back against Hugo’s legs as a smile painted on her tired face.

Aunt Ginny beamed as she turned towards them and placed the newborn on Lily’s chest, right between her expectant arms.

Hugo looked down at their daughter, too, instantaneously smitten. “God,” he whispered. “She’s gorgeous.” He stretched a hand and caressed her soft nose with the tip of his finger. The baby wrinkled it instantaneously and opened her mouth.

“Hi, sweetie,” said Lily. “So, you’re the one who kept kicking me at three in the morning.” She stared at her as if she had never seen a baby before, and Hugo kept looking between his two girls in complete awe.

“Our little Quidditch player,” said Hugo. “Just like her grandma.”

Aunt Ginny let out an ill-concealed noise of happiness and grinned when Hugo looked at her. “So, it’s Emma, isn’t it?” she said gently.

Hugo looked at Lily, who raised her tired eyes upon him and smiled.

“Actually,” she said quietly. “I was thinking something.”

“What, darling?” whispered Hugo, his lips stretched into a smile.

“Alex made me notice that Rose has four letters, too,” she said, beaming.

Hugo let out a laugh and shook his head. “Ah, I love you so much,” he said. “You just had a baby and you’re already joking! You’re amazing, Lily.”

She looked at him amusedly. “I’m not joking.”

“You’re not joking?” he repeated stupidly.

“No. Rose is such a nice name…”

Hugo looked at her with probably a horrified expression over his face. “No, no, no. I’m not calling my daughter like my sister,” he replied. “Not in a million years, and we’ve decided on Emma ages ago; you’ve stitched her name everywhere, we’re not changing it.”

Lily took a deep breath, but she didn’t seem too disappointed. “Emma Rose?”

“No,” said Hugo tersely. “No, no and no. It’s Emma, just Emma. Okay?”

Lily sighed. “Well, the next one, then.”

“Alright,” Hugo huffed, “Emma Rose doesn’t sound too bad, after all.”

Lily glanced at her mother, smiled, winked, and hugged their daughter closer to her chest.

***

The Healers in St Mungo’s were glaring every time they walked past Lily’s room. Rose tried to smile sheepishly at them, but they just shook their heads and hushed the loud voices that came from inside, where all their family was reunited to coddle the newest arrival.

“I think they are going to kick us out before visiting time is up,” whispered Scorpius to Albus as he sat next to him in the corridor.

“Let me,” said Albus calmly as two Healers walked past and looked at them with a scold. “Hey,” he said loudly. “That’s the granddaughter of the Minister for Magic that’s just born there. You better be respectful if you don’t want to see your living wages halved.”

The Healers looked rather affronted rather than scared and Rose just hid her face in her hands. “Albus!” she groaned.

“What?” he said calmly. “She can do it, can’t she?”

“No, she can’t,” sighed Scorpius.

Rose shook her head, she took a deep breath and stood up.

“Where are you going?” asked Albus.

“To see my niece,” she replied simply.

“Again? You’ve got your five minutes with her, you have to queue again if you want five more, you know that, right?”

“I know.” She marched towards the door and stood behind Lucy, patiently waiting for her second round. It took her only half an hour to reach Lily’s bed, and twenty more minutes to be able to hold Emma again.

Liam and Alex were seated on the bed, while Hugo handed his daughter to this and that person, Lily was reclined against a pile of pillows, beaming every time someone remarked something about her daughter. “She’s got the cutest little nose ever.” “Oh, I bet she’s got her dad’s eyes.” “Look at all this red hair!” Dominique had visited her multiple times and she couldn’t find a single thing wrong with her, even when she had born a bit earlier than expected, that baby had been ready to get out for days probably.

“She’s so cute,” said Rose as she rocked her in her arms. “The most perfect thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I was cute, too,” pouted Liam, kneeling next to his mother. “Right, Mummy?”

“The cutest,” she said, embracing him to her chest. “Just like Alex.”

“Yeah, all our children are the cutest,” Hugo beamed idiotically at his daughter. “It’s our very good gene combination.”

“They are fifty percent Weasley,” said Aunt Ginny, “of course they are cutest.”

“I’m sorry?” said Uncle Harry. “It’s obviously that quarter of Potter that’s doing all the difference there.”

There was more laughter, but Rose just smiled without partaking in it. She lowered her head and brushed her lips on the very soft forehead of her niece and then smiled at her. “Welcome, Emma Rose,” she whispered. “Everybody loves you so much, and you’re going to like this family.”

***

Hugo stared at the empty boxes with a little frown between his eyes. There was something utterly weird going on there. He was sure about that.

“Lily,” he called as she walked out of the nursery, with Emma in her arms. “Would you come here for a second, please?”

She went to him, rocking their daughter, and humming a lullaby under her breath; she stopped in the middle of the corridor where he was standing. “Yes, Hugo?” she said gently.

“I think,” he said, glancing down at the boxes again, “I’m not sure, but I think, that this house is haunted.”

He looked back at Lily and saw that she was doing her best not to giggle, she nodded and bit her bottom lip. “Really?” she said, her tone way too surprised to be real. “We’ve lived here for the past five years and I’ve never noticed.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he huffed. “Well, look at that.” He nodded towards the boxes. “I am two hundred percent sure that I sealed those boxes last night, and now they are open and empty!”

Lily looked down at the boxes and cocked her head to read what he had scribbled on them. “Oh, was that the box with the beach toys?” she said calmly. “No, James and Polly had taken the boys to the beach, and they were looking for them.”

Hugo rolled his eyes. “And that?” he pointed towards the other box. “Did they take the barbecue as well?”

“Oh, no,” she replied calmly. “Albus and Scorpius are trying to make it work. They are in the back garden, but they are having some difficulties with the fire regulator. Maybe you can help them before they burn down the house?”

Hugo grimaced at that. “Lily,” he sighed, “I thought that your brothers and my sister had come here to help us pack, not unpack what I’m packing.”

She smiled as she shifted Emma slightly in her arms. “I know, Hugo,” she said, “but they are loving it here. I mean, it’s January and they are going to the beach and sunbathing in the garden.” She looked at him and beamed. “Maybe we don’t really have to move back to England for a little bit longer, no?”

Hugo’s jaw slacked. “Lily, we bought a house in Ottery, remember?” he said. “And we’ve put this one on the market, remember that, too?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, but well… we can rent the one in England and take this one off the market,” she said sensibly. “I like to have my children growing up outside in the sun…”

“Lily, I thought you wanted to be close to our family,” said Hugo.

She smiled brightly. “Yes,” she said. “But Mum and Dad are coming out next week, and Albus said that he can move here for a while, he promised to help with the kids, too. And your mum is coming in February.”

“What? When… when did you decide these things?”

Lily giggled. “It was a bit of a spur of the moment,” she admitted. She shifted Emma again and finally detached her from her sleeveless dress and handed her to Hugo. “Can you look after her for a bit? I’ll take a shower and then I need to run to the shops. I can’t find the extra plates.”

“I packed them!” exclaimed Hugo. “You asked me to!”

“Oh,” she said calmly. “Can you unpack them? We are having a grill tonight. Thank you, Hugo.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him quickly before disappearing into their room.

Hugo shook his head and looked down at his daughter, who squealed out a giggle.

“You’re laughing at me, too, aren’t you?” he sighed. He hoisted her up on his shoulder, where she opened her mouth and proceeded to suck on his t-shirt, and climbed down the stairs.

Rose was clad in a one piece, with a book on her stomach and half of her face hidden by sunglasses. She was looking interestingly at Scorpius and Albus as they tried to understand how the Muggle barbecue worked. When Hugo walked into the garden, she sat up and stretched her arms instantaneously.

“My little Rosie,” she said as Hugo handed the baby over to her. “Oh, you smell so good. Has Mummy just changed you? Oh, yes, she has!”

“Her name is Emma, Rose,” said Hugo calmly.

“Yes, Emma _Rose_ ,” said Rose.

“Yes, her first name is Emma. Do you ever call Scorpius, Hyperion? Or Albus, Severus?” he replied matter-of-factly.

Rose stuck out her tongue to him and then proceeded to kiss the daylight out of her niece, causing giggles and little squeals of delight to leave her tiny mouth.

“So,” he said slowly as he sat down next to her. “When do you have to be back for your wedding?”

She waved a hand in his face, not taking her eyes away from her niece. “Oh, everything is ready for the wedding,” she said calmly. “We can go back the week before.”

Hugo closed his eyes for a moment. “Your wedding is in June, Rose,” he pointed out.

“Did you know that I can ask to be transferred to the Ministry of Magic of Australia without having to go through clearance checks? Because I’m the daughter of the Minister in the United Kingdom.”

“That’s a very fun piece of trivia that you should save for the weekly pub quiz at the Leaky,” said Hugo.

She grinned. “Have you read it?” she said non-consequentially, but Hugo knew instantaneously what she was talking about.

“No,” he replied softly, looking away from her. “But I don’t think I need to anymore.”

She smiled and looked at him as he looked back at her. “So, I talked to Scorpius and we’ve decided to name our firstborn Hugo. What do you think?”

Hugo stared at her with horror written all over. “Hugo Malfoy?” he asked in a whisper. “I’ll pay you good Galleons if you don’t, Rose.”

Rose giggled amusedly. “I told that to Lily and she teared up. She promised to call her next daughter Rose, her first name this time.”

“Lily and I are not having another child, Rose,” said Hugo with finality. “I swear.”

Rose turned her face towards him and sniffed. “You smell, Hugo. You should go and take a shower, now.”

“What?” He blinked. “You’re saying that because Lily is taking a shower, aren’t you?”

“And you should totally join her.”

“Stop it,” he groaned. “I love you. I’m happy I’m talking to you again, but I am not having another kid just to name her after you. Lily and I have enough of those, it’s your turn now, you know…”

She grinned, totally unfazed. “I love you, too,” she said. Then, she moved closer to him and leant her head on his shoulder, her wild curls tickling his chin.

Hugo turned to look at Albus and Scorpius, they were sweating buckets, which was expected since the barbecue looked like it was on fire. Which was, in itself, an incredible feat from their part, since it was made of the newest anti-flammable material.

“Should I help them?” Hugo asked warily.

“Oh no,” said Rose promptly. “They are so much fun. You should totally let them, sit back and have a laugh with me.”

And he did and even Emma squealed amusedly when they started screaming because the flames got too high and hot.

And then Lily joined them, hair drying in the sun, and James and Polly came back from the beach with the boys, and they all sat outside and Scorpius and Albus tried to grill meat and vegetables on the barbecue without burning it, and everybody talked about moving to Australia forever.

And Hugo just knew that whatever the future held for their family, all was going to go rather well.

_FIN_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can show your appreciation for the author in a comment here or on [livejournal](https://hp-nextgen-fest.livejournal.com/121095.html).


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